A Firm Foundation

Posted on by korgrocker

“In his kindness God called you to share in his eternal glory by means of Christ Jesus. So after you have suffered a little while, he will restore, support, and strengthen you, and he will place you on a firm foundation. All power to him forever! Amen.”
1 Peter 5:10-11 NLT

When we consider the word “foundation” what comes into our minds? A builder will think of the concrete and stone that he is building a wall or house on, a base strong and firm enough to support the weight of the structure above it. And that picture will extend into all manner of activities that we get involved in. So a sportsman or woman will develop a foundation of fitness that will enable them to compete in their sport. Their foundations are built on a regime of the correct muscle-building foods, the long hours spent swimming, or running, or repeating the very process they will go through on the competition day. Paul used the sporting analogy when he wrote this in 1 Corinthians 9:24-27, “Don’t you realise that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize? So run to win! All athletes are disciplined in their training. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize. So I run with purpose in every step. I am not just shadowboxing. I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should. Otherwise, I fear that after preaching to others I myself might be disqualified”. 

A business will develop prosperity based on the skills and knowledge of its workers. In this context we talk about the founders of a company, who put together a few ideas perhaps in a bedroom or garage, and from there became a success story, growing into a large and even multi-national company. A “foundation” is a beginning, a starting point, something solid and tangible. And something essential for the success of whatever is built upon it.

The Apostle Paul was a Pharisee in the days before he met Jesus on the Damascus Road. Not just any Pharisee, however. We read about his Jewish upbringing in Philippians 3:5-6, “I was circumcised when I was eight days old. I am a pure-blooded citizen of Israel and a member of the tribe of Benjamin—a real Hebrew if there ever was one! I was a member of the Pharisees, who demand the strictest obedience to the Jewish law. I was so zealous that I harshly persecuted the church. And as for righteousness, I obeyed the law without fault”. Paul’s foundation was on the Law of Moses and the plethora of accompanying rules and regulations that made up the lives of Pharisees. But imagine what happened to his foundation when he met Jesus. It took him days to get his mind round the reality that he had built his life on the wrong foundation. Referring to his heritage and pedigree, we read more of his story in Philippians 3:7-8, “I once thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done. Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ”. 

We pilgrims have built our lives on a true and strong foundation – the person and work, death and resurrection, of Jesus Christ. In fact He is the only way, the truth and the life (John 14:6) that we need. Everything in our lives must be built upon Him. Paul wrote in Ephesians 2:20, “Together, we are his house, built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets. And the cornerstone is Christ Jesus himself”. 

There is an old hymn written in 1866 by S J Stone, and the first verse is:
The church’s one foundation
Is Jesus Christ, her Lord;
she is His new creation,
by water and the word.
From heav’n He came and sought her
to be His holy bride;
with His own blood He bought her,
and for her life He died.

It was a favourite of mine in my early Anglican days, and the truths within it haven’t changed at all in the last 160 years or so. Our faith is truly founded on the Chief Cornerstone – Jesus Himself. There is no other foundation that will support our lives on Planet Earth and in the life to come.

Dear Lord Jesus. You are there only foundation that will last when all else is destroyed. We build upon You and Your ways, this day and every day. Amen.

The Rock of Stumbling

Posted on by korgrocker

“Yes, you who trust him recognise the honour God has given him. But for those who reject him, “The stone that the builders rejected has now become the cornerstone.” And, “He is the stone that makes people stumble, the rock that makes them fall.” They stumble because they do not obey God’s word, and so they meet the fate that was planned for them.”
1 Peter 2:7-8 NLT

In these two verses, Peter again quoted from the Old Testament. The first was a verse from Psalm 118:22, “The stone that the builders rejected has now become the cornerstone”. This Psalm was very much associated with the Passover celebrations and encouraged the congregation to “Praise the Lord” – “Hallelujah!”. The Passover was all about the time when the Israelite slaves were released from the Egyptians and when they embarked on their long journey in the wilderness before they reached the Promised Land. So there was much to thank God for and the Feast of Passover was celebrated every year. But dropped into the middle of this Psalm was the verse about the cornerstone. A thought that a common item, such as a stone used for building, was thrown away by the builders because they thought it unsuitable. A prophetic glimpse that Jesus remembered and wove into the parable of the wicked farmers. They were the leaseholders of a vineyard, and when the landlord, the owner of the vineyard, sent servants to collect his rent, they were beaten up, even killed. Jesus continued the story, “Finally, the owner sent his son, thinking, ‘Surely they will respect my son.’ “But when the tenant farmers saw his son coming, they said to one another, ‘Here comes the heir to this estate. Come on, let’s kill him and get the estate for ourselves!’ So they grabbed him, dragged him out of the vineyard, and murdered him” (Matthew 21:37-39). Jesus was of course foretelling His death, and He reminded the Pharisees, to whom the parable was aimed, that they were rejecting their Messiah, the Cornerstone, by quoting Psalm 118:22, “Then Jesus asked them, “Didn’t you ever read this in the Scriptures? ‘The stone that the builders rejected has now become the cornerstone. This is the Lord’s doing, and it is wonderful to see‘” (Matthew 21:42).

Peter went on to quote another Old Testament scripture, Isaiah 8:14. Referring to the Lord Himself, we read, “He will keep you safe. But to Israel and Judah he will be a stone that makes people stumble, a rock that makes them fall. And for the people of Jerusalem he will be a trap and a snare”. The context of this verse was a warning about the Assyrians. The Jews had become complacent and Isaiah prophesied that they will come to grief as a result of the Assyrian invasion because they had turned away from God. Isaiah 8:13-14a, “Make the Lord of Heaven’s Armies holy in your life. He is the one you should fear. He is the one who should make you tremble. He will keep you safe … ”. The people were exhorted to trust God for their salvation, but for those who didn’t, they will trip over Him, falling to their destruction.

So what about today? What is the message in all this for us pilgrims? Just as it was in those days long ago, God is always there for us. He is the solution to our problems. As we trust in Him we will find security and safety. The world may rage around us, going to and fro between secular ideologies, staggering from one conflict to another, and if we get caught up in all of that we too will “trip” over the Rock that is God. Instead of being a solution He will become a problem to us. Instead of a foundation to keep our souls safe for eternity, we will find that failing to trust in the Rock will lead to our eternal destruction. Back to Isaiah 8, “Look to God’s instructions and teachings! People who contradict his word are completely in the dark. They will go from one place to another, weary and hungry. And because they are hungry, they will rage and curse their king and their God. They will look up to heaven” (Isaiah 8:20-21).

Back to Psalm 118, the Hallelujah Psalm. We remember when we wake every morning, “This is the day the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it” (Psalm 118:24). Let us vow not to stumble over any “rocks” in our path today.

Father God. We thank You that in the storms of life You are always there for us, the Rock on who we stand. Amen.

The Living Cornerstone

Posted on by korgrocker

“You are coming to Christ, who is the living cornerstone of God’s temple. He was rejected by people, but he was chosen by God for great honour. And you are living stones that God is building into his spiritual temple. What’s more, you are his holy priests. Through the mediation of Jesus Christ, you offer spiritual sacrifices that please God.”
1 Peter 2:4-5 NLT

I recently looked on as a man in the village where I live was laying the foundations for a new house. He approximately dug out the foundations, and poured the concrete, before the arrival a few days later of the builders. But the bricklayers were delayed until they knew exactly where to start building. The surveyors had some fancy equipment that they used to measure and mark the orientation of the walls and finally the builders made a start on the first corner. The knew that they had to get the foundations right, because it was from them that the future of the house would depend. 

Jesus is “the living cornerstone of God’s temple” Peter wrote. But what is this temple? We can find the answer very helpfully and clearly in Ephesians 2:19-22, “So now you Gentiles are no longer strangers and foreigners. You are citizens along with all of God’s holy people. You are members of God’s family. Together, we are his house, built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets. And the cornerstone is Christ Jesus himself. We are carefully joined together in him, becoming a holy temple for the Lord. Through him you Gentiles are also being made part of this dwelling where God lives by his Spirit”. God’s temple is made up of all the believers in Him. There are no unbelievers in His temple.  Jesus taught twelve men about His kingdom and they founded the temple, or what we call the church, but we remember that Jesus sets the standard for the whole “building”. He is the “living cornerstone”. 

The Old Testament prophets were well aware of the foundational role of the Messiah, still to come. We read in Isaiah 28:16, “Therefore, this is what the Sovereign Lord says: “Look! I am placing a foundation stone in Jerusalem, a firm and tested stone. It is a precious cornerstone that is safe to build on. Whoever believes need never be shaken”. 

As we look around us we find that there are many other spiritual foundations other than the one we know and love, the one that “God’s temple” is built upon. Building ourselves into a spiritual temple based on anyone other than Jesus will result in a chaotic collapse when the storms of life come against it. Jesus warned the Pharisees of the danger of rejecting Himself as the Cornerstone, as we read what Jesus said in Mark 12:10-11, “Didn’t you ever read this in the Scriptures? ‘The stone that the builders rejected has now become the cornerstone. This is the Lord’s doing, and it is wonderful to see’”. 

We pilgrims are ourselves “stones” that are being built in God’s temple, the church of Jesus Christ. There will be other “stones” around us, but as anyone who has watched a craftsman building a dry stone dyke knows, there are rough edges to be smoothed down to form the wall. So we “living stones” will find that being built into God’s “spiritual Temple” may be a painful process. But there is no other way to be a citizen of God’s Kingdom. Those Christians, people who profess a faith and belief in God, but who refuse to be a part of the church, will sadly miss out on the fullness that God has for them. After all, in Heaven we will be part of a great multitude of fellow believers, worshipping our glorious Heavenly Father. No solitude there!

“Living stones”, the “living cornerstone”, “spiritual temple”, “holy priests“. All these entities represent a new kingdom, totally foreign to our everyday world. But we note that this kingdom pleases God. As such we want to be a part of it. So, fellow pilgrim “stones” join with me in the praise and worship of the “living Cornerstone” Jesus Himself.

Dear Lord Jesus. We reach out to You today, grateful for the opportunity to be part of what You are building, a temple that will be finally completed on the day when You return. Amen.

The Cornerstone

Posted on by korgrocker

“God warned them of this in the Scriptures when he said, “I am placing a stone in Jerusalem that makes people stumble, a rock that makes them fall. But anyone who trusts in him will never be disgraced.””
Romans 9:33 NLT

“Therefore, this is what the Sovereign Lord says: “Look! I am placing a foundation stone in Jerusalem, a firm and tested stone. It is a precious cornerstone that is safe to build on. Whoever believes need never be shaken. I will test you with the measuring line of justice and the plumb line of righteousness. Since your refuge is made of lies, a hailstorm will knock it down. Since it is made of deception, a flood will sweep it away.”
Isaiah 28:16-17 NLT

Paul tells his readers that one day there will be Someone placed in Jerusalem (“Zion” in the Greek version) who will bring security and peace to anyone who believes in Him. We know, of course, who this “Person” is. He is none other than Jesus Christ, the Son of God. He was quoting from Isaiah 28:16,  a verse that we have included today. But if there is ever a time when there is much stumbling and shaking going on, it is in these 21st Century days. Geopolitical uncertainties through wars and threats seem to be greater now than they have ever been. There are unstable leaders intent on implementing their own agendas. Different national ideologies are constantly in conflict. On the domestic UK front, lobby groups stridently declare their own particular ideology, trying to force political parties and urban councils into adopting their extreme beliefs. Protest groups cause disruption to the general public, with the police seemingly powerless to stop them. As the old song says, “there’s an awful lot of shaking going on”!

But why should anyone be surprised? Way back in history, a Jewish prophet declared that the “refuge” adopted by most people “is made of lies”. Nations that have displaced God, instead implementing their own secular systems, lacking in either justice or righteousness, find that very soon their houses built on the sands of human effort, come crashing down. Throughout history, empires have emerged, only to disappear a relatively short time later, collapsing under the weight of their own corruption and ideologies. 

Isaiah’s prophesy still applies today. God said that peoples and nations will be tested, and unless they meet the standards of righteousness and justice, they will soon find that “a hailstorm will knock it down”. And “a flood will sweep it away”. Thankfully, for God-followers everywhere, we can put our trust in Him and find the peace and security so lacking everywhere else. Jesus compassionately invited people oppressed by life in their times to let Him share their burdens. we read in Matthew 11:28-30,

Isaiah’s prophesy still applies today. God said that peoples and nations will be tested, and unless they meet the standards of righteousness and justice, they will soon find that “a hailstorm will knock it down”. And “a flood will sweep it away”. Thankfully, for God-followers everywhere, we can put our trust in Him and find the peace and security so lacking everywhere else. Jesus compassionately invited people oppressed by life in their times to let Him share their burdens. We read in Matthew 11:28-30, “Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light“. Jesus will never close the door in our faces. He will always keep it open for earnest seekers after His truth. He came to this world bringing the Good News of the Kingdom of God, a Kingdom that will never be shaken. At the end of Psalm 136 we read, “Give thanks to the God of heaven. His faithful love endures forever“. Everything else will disappear one day.

Father God We thank You for Your endless love. You carry our burdens. You give us the peace our souls crave for. We are so grateful. Amen.