On January 5, 1933, construction began on the Golden Gate Bridge to connect the San Francisco Peninsula in California to Marin County.  It opened to traffic May 27, 1937 as the longest bridge span in the world at the time, but 200,000 people had walked, ran or roller skated across It the previous day.  It was completed ahead of schedule and under budget by a subsidiary of Bethlehem Steel Corporation, with a total length was 1.7 miles and width of 90 feet.  The longest bridge span in the world today is the Akashi Kaikyo Bridge in Japan.

        “Words from Above” in the Bible speak about a span that can never be bridged.  In Luke 16, Jesus tells the story of a rich man who lived a life of luxury and a beggar who was laid at the gate of the rich man’s estate every day, hoping to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table.  In the course of time they both died, the beggar being carried by the angels into the bosom of Abraham and the rich man ending up in hell.  The rich man was able to see the beggar off in the distance, and asked Abraham to send the beggar with water on the tip of his finger to cool his tongue. 

        Abraham reminded the rich man that during his lifetime on earth he had enjoyed all the good things of life, while the beggar suffered evil things.  Abraham pointed out that the beggar was now being comforted, while the rich man was being tormented.  Abraham also pointed out that between the two of them there was a great permanent gulf that prevented anyone from passing from one place to the other.  This permanent gulf could never ever be spanned, neither by any bridge or other structure.

        This story illustrates that there is an existence after death, and that all of us either end up in hell or in the bosom of Abraham, also called heaven.  There is a vast difference between these two very real places, and there is also a great permanent gulf between them.  The decision to go to one of these two places must be made before our lives on this earth come to an end.  That decision is based on whether we allow the gulf to be bridged that exists between God and man, a gulf created by the entrance of sin into the world.  This gulf has been bridged by the death of Jesus on the Cross to pay the penalty for the sins of the world.  So, we must all make the decision as to whether we will accept this payment.