Jesus Christ

“For we are both God’s workers. And you are God’s field. You are God’s building. Because of God’s grace to me, I have laid the foundation like an expert builder. Now others are building on it. But whoever is building on this foundation must be very careful. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one we already have—Jesus Christ.”
1 Corinthians 3:9-11 NLT

I watched a man recently digging a series of trenches that were to become the foundation of his new house. He had a mini digger which removed all the otherwise hard and back-breaking shovel work, but it still took him quite a while to penetrate the heavy West-Fife clay and prepare the ground. The following week, a ready-mixed concrete lorry delivered what was to become the foundations to his new dwelling. A process that was labour-intensive, ultimately unseen, but necessary. But houses built nearby in the Victorian era had no such care taken with their foundations, because there was a practice of building directly onto the ground without any consideration of the effects of the load of the house above. And in another place near where I live, several houses started to sink because an unknown mine shaft was directly below them. Sometimes, even adequate foundations can be insufficient.

Paul wrote that the Corinthians were “God’s building”, and Paul laid their foundation, “like an expert builder”, and he went on to say that “now others are building on it”. He used an analogy which aptly connected with the process of growing a new Christian because the foundation on which he built was Jesus Christ Himself. There is no better start to a believer’s life than a sound doctrinal and Biblical foundation. But sadly, some have been converted by a “Gospel” that lacks the proper credentials and content, and results in disappointment and dismay. Jesus taught about foundations in a parable that we find in Matthew 7. He started with this verse, “Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock”. That’s a good place to pause because there was nothing easy about Jesus’ teaching. For example, here are a couple of verses from a previous chapter that are especially hard for men to follow, “You have heard the commandment that says, ‘You must not commit adultery.’ But I say, anyone who even looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart” (Matthew 5:27-28). And here’s another one further down in the same chapter, “You have heard the law that says, ‘Love your neighbour’ and hate your enemy. But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you!” (Matthew 5:43-44). But Jesus was clear that unless a new believer could follow and apply such teaching, his or her foundation would otherwise be somewhat fragile and would lead to the result the other builder in Jesus’ parable experienced. Matthew 7:26, “But anyone who hears my teaching and doesn’t obey it is foolish, like a person who builds a house on sand”. In both cases, the storms of life would buffet and bluster against the “buildings” built by the good and not-so-good builders, with one house standing strong and the other collapsing into a pile of bricks. The Corinthian Christians who were in Paul’s mind were very blessed because he laid a proper foundation of Scripture and the teaching of Jesus as revealed to him, with his messages supported and endorsed by the Holy Spirit working through miracles and signs. A solid foundation for sure, and one that became his legacy with the writings and teachings contained in his epistles. Paul knew that a new believer with a proper foundation was always going to be resilient and resistant to the attacks that were to come in his or her life. The one that had perhaps been converted with a Gospel based purely on the single thought that God loves them, was always going to be vulnerable to the devil’s attacks. The devil destroyed Eve with his question, “Did God really say …” (Genesis 3:1), and he will do the same with them, introducing doubts into their minds about God’s love when a problem or challenge emerges. At such a time, the devil’s question will be “Does God really love you …” or “surely a loving God wouldn’t have allowed that to happen to you”? The foundation that Jesus taught about started with John 3:16, ” … whosoever believes in Him …”, and that was the basis of Paul’s foundation, the foundation that was Jesus Christ Himself.

In Ephesians 2:20, Paul succinctly referred once again to believers being a building, “Together, we are his house, built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets. And the cornerstone is Christ Jesus himself“. A drone view of a housing estate will portray many little boxes all isolated from each other, separate buildings where the occupants need to have no contact with other residents. But not so in the Christian life. We are all being built into a single building, God’s house, with everything being built on Christ, the Cornerstone, the only Foundation required. John 14:1-2 records the words of Jesus about the life to come, a “house” that He is preparing for us. He said, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you?” There has been much conjecture and even a few jokes about this place, a “building” of which we have no idea. But the picture emerges that what Jesus is building for us is going to be wonderfully amazing, because it will be God’s house. We pilgrims, however, have to be founded and built here on this earth in a way that will fit into God’s house. The wrong foundation on earth will produce a lop-sided structure that might not fit very well, if at all, when we come to knock on the door with the address 1 Heaven, expecting to be shown our room.

Are we pilgrims sure of our foundation? If we have any doubts then we must ask the Holy Spirit for guidance and He will lead us into all truth (John 15:26). It is amazing how His gentle whispers and nudges will steer us back onto the right path, and He will fill the gaps and blemishes in our foundation, allowing the building of our lives to continue.

O Lord. We love You and worship You today. You are the foundation on which we build our lives, and we ask for guidance to lead us in the right way. We know that You will never disappoint us, and we thank You that You bless us with Your presence day by day. Amen.

“For we were not making up clever stories when we told you about the powerful coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. We saw his majestic splendour with our own eyes when he received honour and glory from God the Father. The voice from the majestic glory of God said to him, “This is my dearly loved Son, who brings me great joy.” We ourselves heard that voice from heaven when we were with him on the holy mountain. Because of that experience, we have even greater confidence in the message proclaimed by the prophets. You must pay close attention to what they wrote, for their words are like a lamp shining in a dark place—until the Day dawns, and Christ the Morning Star shines in your hearts.”
2 Peter 1:16-19 NLT

The Jewish nation was well supplied with prophetic messages. The great prophets such as Isaiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Jeremiah and others were all well known in Peter’s day through the accounts recorded in their Bible called the Tanakh. This included three main sections – the Law, the Prophets and the Writings. Jesus referred to the Hebrew Bible in verses such as Matthew 7:12, “Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets“. Jesus extensively quoted from the Tanakh, at times very effectively as we can read in the account of His temptation from the devil. We pilgrim believers are very blessed in that we not only have access to the Hebrew Bible – we call it the Old Testament – but we also have another set of writings from men who had had a personal encounter with Jesus and which form the New Testament. And in 2 Peter 1:19, Peter wrote, referring to the Mount of Transfiguration event, “Because of that experience, we have even greater confidence in the message proclaimed by the prophets. You must pay close attention to what they wrote, for their words are like a lamp shining in a dark place—until the Day dawns, and Christ the Morning Star shines in your hearts“. Peter made the connection between Jesus and the “message proclaimed by the prophets”.

According to Bible scholars, there were 450 or so prophecies about the coming Messiah made in the Old Testament and Jesus fulfilled over 300 of them at His first advent. The rest are still to come. But the Bible doesn’t say when this will be and even Jesus Himself, when asked by His disciples, confessed that He didn’t know. After laying out a list of End Time signs, Jesus said, as recorded in Matthew 24:36, “However, no one knows the day or hour when these things will happen, not even the angels in heaven or the Son himself. Only the Father knows“. Then in Matthew 25:31, we find out the manner of Jesus’ return, “But when the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit upon his glorious throne”. There are many prophecies about the End Times, but they are all focused around the person of Jesus. It is all about Him.

Peter wrote that because of his mountain experience he had great confidence in the prophetic messages that were woven into the warp and weft of Jewish society. The accuracy of some of those writings looking forward to the first Advent, and given many years before Jesus’ birth, is astounding. We look at Isaiah 9, for example, which builds until verses 6-7, “For a child is born to us, a son is given to us. The government will rest on his shoulders. And he will be called: Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. His government and its peace will never end. He will rule with fairness and justice from the throne of his ancestor David for all eternity. The passionate commitment of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies will make this happen!” Only part of this prophecy has been fulfilled, and we have confidence that the remainder will one day come to pass. In another example of Old Testament prophecy, we read the poignant words of Psalm 22, foretelling Jesus’ death experience.

In other places the prophets of old warned the Jewish nation that there would be consequences for their bad behaviour. For example, Hosea prophesied that one day the people of Israel would be taken into captivity because of their unfaithfulness. We read in Hose 9:1-3, “O people of Israel, do not rejoice as other nations do. For you have been unfaithful to your God, hiring yourselves out like prostitutes, worshiping other gods on every threshing floor. So now your harvests will be too small to feed you. There will be no grapes for making new wine. You may no longer stay here in the Lord’s land. Instead, you will return to Egypt, and in Assyria you will eat food that is ceremonially unclean“. In Hosea 9:7-9 we read some more depressing details, “The time of Israel’s punishment has come; the day of payment is here. Soon Israel will know this all too well. Because of your great sin and hostility, you say, “The prophets are crazy and the inspired men are fools!” The prophet is a watchman over Israel for my God, yet traps are laid for him wherever he goes. He faces hostility even in the house of God. The things my people do are as depraved as what they did in Gibeah long ago. God will not forget. He will surely punish them for their sins“. Historical events vindicated prophets who were often punished and even killed because of their faithfulness in declaring God’s message.

Of course, prophetic messages were not all doom and gloom. One of my favourite chapters is Isaiah 40. There we read, “Yes, the Sovereign Lord is coming in power. He will rule with a powerful arm. See, he brings his reward with him as he comes. He will feed his flock like a shepherd. He will carry the lambs in his arms, holding them close to his heart. He will gently lead the mother sheep with their young” (Isaiah 40:10-11).

So we pilgrims should take note of Peter’s words and the prophetic messages we find in the Bible. Through them we get a wonderful picture of our loving Heavenly Father, and His desire to work out His love in His children, those who believe in Him. Where do we stand with Biblical prophecy? We will be spiritually impoverished by avoiding it. Peter wrote, “You must pay close attention to what they wrote, for their words are like a lamp shining in a dark place—until the Day dawns, and Christ the Morning Star shines in your hearts”. We too have words that shine in this dark and sad society in which we live. It will be even darker without our presence standing as a prophetic message to those around us.

Dear Father God. Thank You for the faithful men and women who have prophetically declared Your messages in their generation. May we, Your people, do the same in ours. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Jesus Christ the Foundation (1)

Prophetic Messages