The Church and all of Christianity are based on one
thing, and one thing only; but not just a thing, but a person. That person is
Jesus Christ. The root of “Christianity” is Christ, the Greek for Messiah, the
Hebrew for Savior. There is long explanation about what a messiah really is,
and while intriguing, the definition of “savior” will suffice for now. But the
belief of who Jesus is, the life that he lived, the death that he had, and the
resulting resurrection all cumulate for the basis of Christianity. Without
Jesus, the Christ, the Messiah, the Savior, Christianity would not exist. Our
faith is in this truth, and this truth is the foundation of all that we will
build upon. To have a good sturdy structure we need to have a firm, strong
foundation. Jesus is that foundation.
Here’s few examples. When a house, or any building for
that matter, is being built, what is the first thing done? I grew up in a
suburb of Columbus, Ohio in a subdivision, and when I was a kid a lot of houses
were being built. So me and my friends, being kids and love doing things we
were not allowed to do, went and played in them. We would go to a house that
was about to be built, and jump into the basement, which always started as just
a big hole in the ground. As we would play and the houses would be built, we
would see the foundations of the house being put together. First would always
be the digging of the hole (the best part to play in). Then they would pour
concrete at the bottom. Concrete is strong once dried, and becomes a big square
rock. Or rectangle. Then they would put up the walls to the basement with more
concrete, or mortar, I could never tell the difference, and cinder blocks, just
more concrete shaped into blocks. And they would put more concrete down the
holes of the cinder blocks to reinforce the walls and foundation of the house.
This created an incredibly strong foundation, something that a fairly large
house could be built on; something to create a good place to live.
Another example. A friend from college told me of a
school being built in her home town. They first tore up the ground where the
school was going to be built, and then after a while started building. They did
not let the ground, and therefore foundation, settle. She told me about how
already, after two years the school was beginning to sink in places, with
students in it. The people building the school never let the ground settle,
allowing for a firm foundation. How easy is this to tie into talking about
Christ as the foundation?
When we build our faith structure, and the Church, we
need to tear away the old and destroy the old foundation of our lives. Paul
talks about this very thing saying, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a
new creation. The old has passed away; behold the new has come” (2 Corinthians
5.17 ESV). For us to build the Church on a good foundation, we have to build a
good, firm, strong foundation in our own lives. We have to let the old
foundation be destroyed, so that the new one, Jesus, can come.
My hope is that you already have the foundation of Jesus
in your life, but if not, then we need to establish that. 1 Corinthians 3.11
says, “For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is
Jesus Christ.” We see here that Jesus has already been laid as the foundation,
foundation for what though? Well obviously the Church, but later we will look
at more verses from this chapter, and build on the foundation we are building
now (see what I did there?). So this foundation is Jesus, and has already been
laid, but by who? “…Built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with
Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone” (Eph. 2.20). Jesus was the first
stone laid of this foundation. But I said he is the entire foundation did I
not? Here’s how I see it.
Jesus is fully God and fully man, being human in nature
and divine in character. So Jesus probably has a lot of different
characteristics. On a side note, I think God has multiple personalities, until
I get a divine revelation or some smart person tells me otherwise that this is
wrong, we will continue with this thought. My thought process behind this is
that God can connect to each and every one of us in a deeply personal, intimate
way. One person, with one personality cannot do that, but one person and different
personalities to connect with everyone can. God remains who He is, but I feel
there is something behind the name that He gives to Moses when He is asked His
name.
“Then Moses said to God, ‘If I come to the people of
Israel and say to them, “The God of your fathers has sent me to you,” and they
ask me, “What is his name?” what shall I say to them?’ God said to Moses, ‘I AM
WHO I AM.’ And he said, ‘Say this to the people of Israel, “I AM has sent me to
you.” (Exodus 3.13-14)
“I AM WHO I AM” is a powerful name. I have read through
the Bible at least once, and that was just to say I have read it. I want to
read through it again and every time ask God who He is, and see that He tells
me there. “Are you my Father?” “Yes.” “Are you my rock?” “Yes.” “Are you
creator?” “Yes.” Throughout the Bible we get an insight into who/what God is. I
could go on and on about who/what God is, but by now I hope my point is made
clear. God is a multitude of things to us, each one of us may see God as the
same type of figure, but we still all see Him differently. Take God the Father
for example. I may see God as my Father, and so might someone else, and someone
else, and someone else. But each one of us sees him differently as a Father,
because we each see a father figure in a different light.
Now back
to my original point: What does this have to do with Jesus as the foundation of
the Church? Looking back at the verse from Ephesians, we see that he is the
“chief cornerstone” But he is also the entire foundation. Jesus, being fully
God, I believe is the “chief cornerstone” of all of Christianity. The
cornerstone in buildings is the first stone laid and all the other stones are
set by that one stone. So when we have the faith, and understanding, as much as
we can understand God, that Jesus is fully God, we have our first stone of our
foundation placed. After that stone is placed, we then see what, and who, else
Jesus is. This is shown to us primarily in the Gospels, but also in most of the
Epistles. Jesus, like God, because he is also God, has multiple characteristics
for us to identify with. All of these characteristics of Jesus stem off of the
stone that he is also God, creating a foundation that we are built off of. The
more people in the Church, the more foundational stones there will be, and the
stronger they will be, giving us the chance to make an even bigger and better
Church.
Now I
may have gone too fast there, and maybe you do not understand how I got that
Jesus being God is the chief cornerstone. Well luckily Jesus has shown that to
us already.
“When Jesus came to the district of Caesarea Philippi, he
ask his disciples, ‘Who do people say that the Son of Man is?’ And they said,
‘Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of
the prophets.’ He said to them ‘But who do you say I am?’ Simon Peter replied,
‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.’ And Jesus answered him,
‘Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to
you, but by my Father who is in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter, and
on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail
against it.” (Matthew 16.13-18)
Alright, time for more confusion, then hopefully
clarification. Peter in the Greek is Petros,
which means or sounds close to “rock.” So here we see Peter pipe up and say
that Jesus is the Son of God and the Christ. Jesus in turn renames Simon to
Peter and then says “on this rock I will build my church.” Now question. Is
Jesus going to build his entire Church on one man? And if you know the story of
Peter at all, is Jesus going to build it on the man who denied him three times?
No. Absolutely not. The rock that Jesus is building his Church on is the truth
that Peter spoke, the confession he made, that Jesus is the Son of God and the
Christ. This is the chief cornerstone that has been laid for the foundation of
the Church: That Jesus is the Son of God, making him God himself. (More
evidence given in John 1.1-18. Key to this passage: The Word=Jesus)
Wrap Up
So all
of this evidence given, we see that Jesus is the foundation of Christianity,
the Church, and our faith (faith bringing us to Christianity). So what does
this mean for us as the Church? Well first off, it lays a base for us to build
on for later topics. The Church as a whole
is built on this foundation of Jesus, and a firm understanding of Jesus being
our foundation gives us a firm base to build on. I know I seem to be repetitive
here, but I think if I put it different ways it will be better understood.
Now I challenge you: Allow yourself to be broken, and build your life on Jesus.
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