In chapter 29 of The Bridge from OneDayBow, while Tim was focusing on Joe, there was another important person there who was listening – Ann. Remember Ann from chapter 14, at the “Live the Truth” meeting? She thought evolution was scientific-fact but found out she’d been given inaccurate and insufficient information.

Misled by people that she respected concerning the origin of life, Ann was seeking to know the Truth. So today at the Park, Ann expressed belief in the existence of a King but candidly asked some questions that she found tough to understand:

Why doesn’t He [the King] accept us as we are, here and now?

And why does He require the cross to OneDayBow?

Those were genuinely tough questions for Ann, based on the limited information that she had. But they were also tough because of emotional ties she had to HereAndNow. As I read that now, I think Ann is really asking, “Why can’t we all just be okay with the King right where we are?”

I love that Ann was willing to ask the questions! (The People of the Book should never be intimated by tough questions, as long as they know what’s in the Book!) Ann had asked honest questions, and Tim was grateful she voiced them. And they were in a place where many others had similar questions, or even objections they hadn’t expressed. This was a great opportunity for the Truth to be told!

Now if I was asked similar questions, I would show Ann the answer in the Bible. In the book of Romans, chapter 4, verse 23, Paul writes: “For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.” But what exactly does that mean?

From the very first sin of Eve in the garden, sin became a reality in the world. It is the lot of every person by “inheritance” and by personal choice. God loves us enough to tell us the truth about sin, that it separates humans from a holy God. Not only have we made a mess of the right relation God wants to have with His creation, mankind is missing out on the very best God intends for each person. One definition of sin is, “missing the mark.” God created us with good purposes in mind, but when we insist on pursuing our own way instead of God’s way we miss out on His best.

God can’t accept us in this fallen, rebellious state because we aren’t accepting Him as the great God He is. The truth is, because He loves us He directs us to yield to Him. In our foolishness we settle for far less, presuming that we know better. But often when we discover the futility of going our own way, we settle into the hopelessness of our inability to get right with God. That’s why the following verses in Romans (24-26) are so important to know:

“Yet God, in His grace, freely makes us right in His sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when He freed us from the penalty for our sins. For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed His life, shedding His blood. This sacrifice shows that God was being fair when He held back and did not punish those who sinned in times past, for He was looking ahead and including them in what He would do in this present time. God did this to demonstrate His righteousness, for He Himself is fair and just, and He makes sinners right in His sight when they believe in Jesus.”

Ann’s second question is more complex than she knows.  The cross of Jesus Christ was required to satisfy the justice of God. As the verses in Romans show, on the cross Jesus willingly took the sin of mankind on Himself – the One Who had no sin in Himself. But He doesn’t require that we receive what He offers. Salvation is a gracious invitation from God which is received only by faith. When we do so we enter into eternal life – real, vital life without end. It is not a “have to”, but a wonderful “get to”, far more glorious than we can begin to know!

So, that is how I would answer an “Ann”. Next time we’ll see what Tim has to say.