Too Great A Chasm

Children and even some young adults may not know or remember him, but in the 1970s few people held the American public's imagination like Evel Knievel. The motorcycle daredevil saw his name and patriotic color scheme stamped on everything from lunchboxes to albums to movies to an Evel Knievel action figure that briefly outsold Barbie and G.I. Joe. His jump attempts over cars, buses, fountains, shark tanks and, most memorably, the Snake River Canyon in Idaho , drew millions of viewers to Knievel television specials and sold out venues like the Houston Astrodome and London 's Wembley Stadium.

Consider, for a moment, his jump attempt at Snake River Canyon in Idaho …

On September 8, 1974, after two unsuccessful unmanned test flights, Evel decided to keep his word to his fans and risked his life in an attempt to clear a 1,718-foot chasm of the Snake River Canyon . In place of his signature Harley Davidson, Evel attempted this jump in a specially constructed rocket-powered "Skycycle." Seconds after his sky cycle cleared the edge of the canyon, his parachute ejected prematurely. As fans, family, crew, and a live television audience watched Evel descend 600 feet into the canyon, it appeared he was heading directly for the river. Landing in the river would have meant certain death. Fortunately, Evel and the sky cycle were saved because they landed on the rocks on the far edge of the river. Due at least in part to malfunctions in his equipment, the chasm at Snake River Canyon proved to be too great for Evel to cross.

This chasm and Evel’s attempt to clear it reminds us of an even greater chasm - one which separates us from God!

God is a holy God - "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty” (Isaiah 6:3). Because of His holiness, God is totally “set apart” from sin. His eyes are too pure to look upon evil (Habakkuk 1:13).

Man, on the other hand, is a sinful being - Isaiah warned others about the effects of sin: "Behold, the Lord's hand is not shortened, That it cannot save; Nor His ear heavy, That it cannot hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your God; And your sins have hidden His face from you, So that He will not hear" (Isaiah 59:1-2).

The chasm between sinful man and a holy God is too great for man to cross by his own merits! Morality isn’t sufficient! Good works won’t bridge the gap!

Only the cross of Jesus can span this great chasm between God and man caused by sin. Jesus died on the cross so that you and I might be forgiven of our sins and reconciled to a holy God. Those who place their trust in God (Hebrews 11:6), repent of sin (2 Corinthians 7:9-10), confess Jesus before men (Romans 10:9-10), are baptized (immersed) into Christ for the forgiveness of sin (Acts 2:38), and live faithfully to Him (1 John 1:7), are cleansed of their sins and reconciled to God because of Jesus’ atoning sacrifice.

Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me" (John 14:6). We cross by way of the cross!

Only through your submission to Jesus will you ever be able to reach God who beckons to us from the other side! Won't you cross over today?



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