Volume 7
August 7, 2016
Number 16
We were recently doing some remodeling work on our house, specifically replacing a double patio door with a new sliding patio door. As with all home renovation projects, we ran into some surprising things as we got underway. Once the old door was removed we observed that nearly one-third of the cement slab upon which the new door was going to be installed sat nearly an inch and a half lower than the rest of the slab. This was most likely due to the fact that when this small section of concrete was poured, maybe 15 or more years ago (it was not original to the house), it was simply poured directly onto the surface of the ground. Technically, since it was going to bear the weight of a wall, the builder should have dug down and poured a footing underneath, and then poured the slab on top, giving it the necessary support needed to prevent it from sinking over time. At first there was probably no noticeable problem, but over the years that section of the slab has sunk a considerable amount. So much so, that it was quite a project to get the door opening squared back up and ready to receive the new sliding door. In the end, we got it and all is good, but that experience got me thinking about just how important a strong and sturdy foundation actually is.
I don’t bring this up to talk about the foundation of buildings, but because I believe that we can learn a spiritual lesson from this physical analogy. In fact, the apostle Paul uses building metaphors in his discussion of spiritual matters. And I believe this is because the construction of a building provides such a great likeness to the building of our lives. When it comes to our relationship with Christ, both as individual disciples and as His church, the construction/building metaphor is one that Paul used extensively. Notice just a few passages that illustrate of this:
“…put on the new self who is being renovated to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him…”
(Colossians 3:10)
“So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone, in whom the whole building, being fitted and held together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit.”
(Ephesians 2:19-22)
“For we are God’s fellow workers; you are…God’s building. According to the grace of God which was given to me, like a wise master builder I laid a foundation, and another is building on it. But each man must be careful how he builds on it. For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any man builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each man’s work will become evident; for the day will show it because it is to be revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test the quality of each man’s work.”
1 Corinthians 3:9-13
Did you notice what/who the foundation or corner stone in this spiritual building is? It’s Christ! He is the one that we must be built upon. It is the teachings and words of the Lord that form the foundation of the life of the disciple of the Lord. Everything that we do is to be based upon and guided by the fact that Jesus is Lord and we want to do what He has instructed and commanded us to do. It will only be when we build our lives on the solid foundation of Christ that we will be what we are supposed to be, that we will be successful and productive disciples of the Lord.
Unfortunately, sometimes there are those who really don’t have this solid foundation. That is they are not really living their lives and conducting themselves daily based on the fact that Jesus is their Lord. And what is interesting, is that to the outside observer, there doesn’t always appear to be any problem with this kind of individual, at least not at first. That is, for a time an individual can cruise along the path of life, and no one would be any the wiser that they are not actually building their life upon the solid foundation of Jesus Christ. Everything at first appears to be fine. It may even seem that they are in fact solidly standing on the foundation of Christ. But when trials, hardship and pressure arise, the weight and strain of trouble begins to show the weakness in the individual who does not have Christ as his foundation. And then when the weight becomes too much, the strain to excessive, the individual crumbles under the pressure, and much like the slab with no foundation, sink back into the mud and filth that is sin (cf. 2 Peter 2:20-22).
What is more, and what should cause us each to sit up and do some serious self-evaluation, is that the individual himself may not realize just how little foundation he has. We may think that we are basing our decisions on God’s will, that Christ is our foundation. The problem can be that we do not really know the will of God, and so, though we think we are living in harmony with it, and basing our lives upon it, in actuality our foundation is nothing more than our own warped or inaccurate perception of what we think God’s will is. Often times it is only when “weight” is applied do we realize that we aren’t really basing their lives on the foundation of Christ, but on something far inferior: the unstable ground of worldly wisdom and our own desires.
Oh how important it is to really know God’s will and to be firmly rooted and established on the one foundation of Jesus Christ. In fact Jesus used a very similar analogy when He admonished people about the importance of really following Him, and we would do well to give heed to His words: “Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against the house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock. Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell—and great was its fall” (Matthew 7:24-27).
-J.L
This bulletin is being published for the purpose of encouraging a further study of the Word of God. Editor – Josh Liggin
Want to get into touch check out our Contact Us page