Christ The Foundation

(1 Corinthians 3:10-11)

There is a work going on in every person who comes to the Lord. All people born on this earth are like a piece of raw material, a building block that needs to be shaped, cut and honed to form part of the building that is the temple of God in the spirit.

But there is also a building work going on within each person as they walk with the Lord. And like any building there are processes that must be followed if the building is going to stand solid across time and against the ravages of the environment, in this case the spiritual environment.

Every building on this earth must have a foundation and the quality of that foundation will determine the ability of the building to stand. Even a tent has the foundation of pegs to hold it down against wind and rain and if not pegged down securely it will blow away in a storm.

So too we in Christ must have a solid foundation before the spiritual house can be built upon it. And as this scripture tells us, there is no other foundation that can be laid but the foundation of Jesus Christ.

Christ the Foundation

We are shown in a number of places that Jesus is the foundation upon which Christianity is built. Jesus Himself taught this as we see in the following scripture.

24 “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. 26 And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. 27 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.” – (Matthew 7:24-27)

The significance of this verse is that the house being built is us. It is the life we are building as Christians. The key thing to note in this verse that it is not enough to simply hear the words of Jesus, we must act upon them and do them. That is, we need to obey the words of the Lord and learn the things that lead to life and to godliness.

There are many who have a “head knowledge” of the bible and who have read or heard the word of God but do nothing with it. Even atheists often quote scripture to back up their arguments, but their use of scripture does them no good for they do not understand what they are talking about for they are not founded upon Jesus Christ.

It is not until we both hear and do the words of God that we find the solid foundation that will enable us to stand against the ravages of the evil in this world that comes against all who choose to live a godly life.

What Are The Foundations?

Jesus Christ is the foundation and the teachings He gave provide the foundations of our faith. But there are also six specific teachings that originated with Jesus Christ which form the foundational teachings of Christianity. These are defined by the writer of Hebrews in chapter 6:1-2.

1 Therefore let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, 2 and of instruction about baptisms, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. – (Hebrews 6:1-2)

From this verse we see that the writer identifies six foundational teachings. They are:

1. Repentance from dead works
2. Faith toward God
3. Baptism
4. The laying on of hands
5. Resurrection of the dead
6. Eternal judgement

These are the six foundations of Christianity and it is understanding these six teachings in detail and in depth that will allow a Christian to stand strong in Jesus Christ.

One of the key points to understand in this also is that these are just a beginning. Just as the foundation of a house is not the house but only the first necessary step to building the house, these foundations are the first necessary step to building a strong, grounded life in Jesus Christ. There is too much to go into here, but I have written a free eBook on the Foundations Of Christianity which you can download by clicking the link.

Jesus Christ is the only foundation of Christianity and these six teachings are the foundational teachings of Christ that enable us to stand. All other cults, sects and religions that are not based in Christ do not have a foundation and in spite of their claims to find enlightenment, they will not sustain their devotees in distressful times. They provide no protection and no understanding of the spiritual realm for they are not centered on Jesus Christ who is the Son of God, Saviour and foundation of truth and faith.

What Next?

Just as the foundation is only the beginning of the building of a house, so too understanding the foundations of Christianity is only the beginning of the walk we have with Jesus Christ. There is much we have to learn, but until we have a strong foundation it can be difficult to build a stable structure.

Think of a house where they pour a concrete foundation to lay brickworks in the construction of the house. If the builders begin laying bricks while the concrete foundation is still wet and not set properly, the house being built upon it will be flawed, weak, unstable and may not stand. It is not until the foundation is set solid that the house can be properly built.

It is the same for a Christian. If a person begins to seek to build their Christianity before they understand the foundations fully, what they build will be weak, flawed and unstable.

The aim for all of us, as I have said many times in these blog posts, is to come to maturity and to be strong and able to stand in the Lord. And that cannot happen if we do not first ensure the foundations are strong.

We will look more at the building of the house in the next post. I encourage you to check our my free eBook on the Foundations of Christianity which will give you a deeper insight and understanding of the six foundations defined in Hebrews 6:1-2 as mentioned above.

(Photo sourced from freeimages.com provided by Ben Earwicker, Garrison Photography, Boise ID)

You might also like:

Enter By The Narrow Gate
Build Your House Upon The Rock
The Parable Of The Sower
On This Rock I Will Build My Church
Call Of The Twelve
A House Built Upon The Rock
I Am The True Vine
Abide In Me
You Cant Go Back Part 1
Why Repentance
Preaching The Word
Baptism And Receiving The Holy Spirit
Withdrawing From Evil
The Lords Protection
Alarming News
A Way Of Escape
Protection Of The Lord
Oops I Did It Again
What Are You Thinking About
Spirit Of Christ
Sheep To The Slaughter
Choose Christ
Hold Fast To What Is Good
Seek Honour Not Evil
Governing Authorities
Be Convinced