Building On The Foundation Of Jesus Christ

Imagine initiating a project to build a house for yourself and investing millions of euros into the foundation. Would it not make sense to use quality material for the house itself? Would it make sense to use grass to build your home after investing so much into the foundation? On that note, unfortunately, as Christians, we sometimes forget how expensive our foundation is. Christ shed His precious blood, gave up His glory above, suffered and died, and laid the foundation for our salvation. This was not a cheap activity. The cost of this foundation is one none of us can afford to pay. Only God could lay it at a price we may never really be able to wrap our heads around. Apostle Paul encourages us to be mindful of how we build on the foundation of Jesus Christ in 1 Corinthians 3:10-15, ESV.

10 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. 11 For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw— 13 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. 14 If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. 15 If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.

If you are not building on the foundation of Jesus Christ, this message does not apply to you. My message to those building on other foundations apart from Christ is that all other types of foundations will fail you. The foundation of Christ is the only foundation that will stand. If Jesus is not your Lord and Saviour, you don’t have access to the foundation spoken about in 1 Corinthians 3.

Now that we understand the type of foundation we are dealing with, what kind of material would you use to build on it? The scriptures outline that you can use different materials while you build. The first three materials mentioned are gold, silver and precious stones. What happens when you put fire to gold? It purifies it. The same can be said of silver when put through fire. When you pass precious stones like a diamond through  fire, you see pretty flashes of colour. So, it is fair to conclude that fire reveals the beauty of gold, silver and precious stones; it won’t destroy them.

The second sets of materials focused on in our central bible passage are wood, hay and straw. They are combustible materials. When wood, hay and straw are passed through the fire, the only outcome is ashes. Ashes are not attractive to look at, and we don’t have much use for them. So instead, ashes give us a picture of utter destruction and waste.

Scripture reveals that our works will be tested through the fire. If it survives, we receive a reward. If it burns up, you will suffer loss even though you would still be saved. So this text has nothing to do with our salvation. A saved person has Christ as their foundation. This text focuses on the quality of our works unto the Lord; the materials with which we build on Christ as our foundation. This will be tested. Consequently, we must frequently examine ourselves.

So, let’s ask ourselves some key questions. What material are you using to build on the foundation of Jesus Christ? What are your motives? What is your attitude towards that which God has given you? Are you a faithful steward? Do you give God quality time and resources or just leftovers? Are you using all that God has put into your hand? Are you using your talents and gifts for the glory of God?

The one who builds with wood, hay and straw may build a mighty empire. Their works may be known across the world. You may be one to participate in missions, church activities and giving to the poor. But if your motives are not aligned with scripture, your wonderful works are nothing but wood, hay, and straw. It may be done to obtain the praise of man, out of strive, comparison and wanting to be the best. The one who builds with gold, silver and precious stones could be an old lady praying for her unsaved community. Nobody knows she’s praying, but God sees what she’s doing behind closed doors.

Ultimately, the quality of your work depends on what you do behind closed doors. What you do behind closed doors will either dampen or improve the quality of your work. So there are questions we must ask ourselves. What things in your life dampen your ability to build with quality materials? Is it a mindset/attitude? A thing? A person?

Please don’t read this article and jump into an ‘I must do more for the Lord’ mode. Instead, take a step back and examine yourself. God is looking for quality over quantity. Quality time. Quality Resources. Quality work. May the Lord help us all.

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