Source: https://www.bertha-dudde.org/en/proclamation/3376

3376 Unbridgeable gap.... redemptive work of Christ....

December 23, 1944: Book 44

People are separated from God by an unbridgeable gulf who live without love and without faith in Jesus Christ as the divine redeemer.... For them there is no path to God, for only love is the bridge to Him, and only faith in Jesus Christ helps build this bridge, for anyone who believes in Him will also live according to His commandment and practice love, and this again establishes the connection with God. There is no other path, and anyone who does not want to take the path of love can never ever reach God. But the human being Jesus exemplified the path of love on earth, He bridged the gap through His act of salvation for people, so that everyone can now walk this bridge if they believe in Him and keep His commandments. And therefore earthly life is no longer hopeless, because the eternal love Itself has shown a path which leads across this hitherto insurmountable gulf to It, and because It gives all people the opportunity to take this path.... by acknowledging Christ and the act of salvation and thereby receiving His acquired grace.... increased will and strengthened power.... No-one was able to bridge the gulf by his own strength, but through the act of salvation the human being can increase his weak strength many times over, he is able to muster a will which masters the greatest obstacles. But faith in Jesus Christ absolutely has to motivate the human being to request His gift of grace, he has to turn to Him in prayer for His help, and he will receive it, because the man Jesus died on the cross to ensure that the human being will henceforth not be powerlessly at the mercy of the one who, as God's adversary, created this unbridgeable gulf in order to separate people from God. And since God is love Himself His adversary destines people to unkindness and thereby distanced them ever further from God. And therefore the human being Jesus faced this adversary of God for battle.... He likewise tried to separate people from Him by giving them the safest weapon in His hand, by encouraging them to work with love, for this guarantees the approach to God, thus it also has to be a bridge to Himself. But this is why He must first be acknowledged, otherwise His act of salvation will not be taken advantage of and the gulf between man and God will remain insurmountable. Only the loving human being understands the significance of the act of salvation, and he also knows about the power of love, he knows about the blessings Jesus Christ has acquired for people. And he also tries to win his fellow human beings for a life of love, he also tries to lead them to the bridge which alone leads to God, which reduces the excessive distance from people to God. And then he participates in the act of salvation which Christ started through His death on the cross but which will not come to an end and will continue on earth as well as in the beyond until the gulf has been overcome and the soul has found union with God....

Amen

Translated by Doris Boekers