Standing Firm on my Foundation

 

Many years ago I lived on a farm. We bought a house from a moving company and had a neighbor measure it for the foundation. The concrete was poured and when the house came, large and hanging sadly over the sides of the moving truck, we wondered if it would fit. However, our neighbor did well; the house perfectly fit its foundation, right to the very inch.

FOUNDATION is another one of those English words with a few different meanings. It can be the load-bearing part of a building, the cream used as a base for facial cosmetics, or an underlying basis or principle, a starting point or reason for establishing or doing something. In the Bible, this speaks of what God the Founder does in building His forever family.

Of course this word is also used to describe the basis of physical structures, yet that is a good image for describing this work of God. His kingdom has a strong foundation, which is why Jesus could say, “I will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.”

When applied to God, the psalmist declares, “Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne” (Psalm 89:14 and 97:2) He rules because He is righteous and just, morally right, always doing what is well-founded and fair. While scoffers ridicule and think they can do as they please, the God who created this universe also established how it works. He inspired the user’s manual and its principles so we could build stable lives on those principles. I’ve realized the folly of trying to lay a different foundation because that pits me against the One who laid the foundation of the everything. He also said in Isaiah 28:16–18:

“Behold, I am the one who has laid as a foundation in Zion, a stone, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone, of a sure foundation: ‘Whoever believes will not be in haste.’ And I will make justice the line, and righteousness the plumb line; and hail will sweep away the refuge of lies, and waters will overwhelm the shelter. Then your covenant with death will be annulled, and your agreement with Sheol will not stand; when the overwhelming scourge passes through, you will be beaten down by it.”

The NT reveals that God’s foundation is not stone and cement but His strong and eternal Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Ephesians 1:4 says we were chosen in Him “before the foundation of the world that we should be holy and blameless before him in love” — in other words, our lives should perfectly fit on the foundation that was prepared for us.

This foundation includes biblical teaching as Ephesians 2:19–22 says:

“So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.”

This teaching includes “a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God” yet tells us to go on to maturity, building a holy life on that most holy foundation, Jesus Christ. One day, our works will be examined at the Bema (judgment seat of Christ) and the basis for their worth will be decided by the foundation upon which they were done:

1 Corinthians 3:10–15. According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it. For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw— each one’s work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.

GAZE AT HIS GLORY. Each week, I’ve a ‘focus’ on my calendar. This week it says I’m to be decisive, not double-minded, having the ability to finalize all decisions based on the will and ways of God. (James 1:5) His will and ways are the foundation for Christian living. I’ve been a Christian more than fifty years yet this still requires focus and relying on Him in thoughts and with prayer. My mind can so easily stray all over the place instead of fitting solidly on my Foundation. I’m so glad He is my Savior — I could never do it myself!