Jesus is the Foundation

Matthew 7:24-27
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.”

1 Corinthians 3:6-17
6 I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. 
7 So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. 
8 He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor. 
9 For we are God's fellow workers. You are God's field, God's building.
10 According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled[a] 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.
16 Do you not know that you[b] are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you?17 If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him. For God's temple is holy, and you are that temple.

We need to stop to have a quiet time every day to re-evaluate our desires, thoughts, ideas, way of life and living, and our immediate relationships. The Bible teaches that we are the house (temple) of God, and Jesus Christ is the foundation on which that house should be built. Where do we stand in life? On what foundation are we trying to build our lives, relationships, homes, and work? The Bible warns us that any foundation other than Jesus Christ is unstable and uncertain and can easily crumble when floods or earthquakes (major changes or difficulties) occur.

Let us think together about how to live a life based on Jesus Christ, giving four points to consider. Through Jesus Christ, with the help of the Holy Spirit, we are privileged to live as children of God in an intimate relationship with our Heavenly Father. Therein lies the clue to understanding the foundation of the Christian life.

1.Knowing Our Heavenly Father

Jesus always walked in a close relationship with His Father, being of one mind and heart with Him. He invited all His disciples to live in that same relationship with Him and His Father. Prayer is a dialogue with our Heavenly Father, who always pays attention to us. He listens to our prayers, responds to them (even if not in the way we expect), and wants to show us who He is. The Holy Spirit helps us pray when we pray in Jesus' name.

2.Seeing Ourselves Through the Eyes of Our Heavenly Father

The Father says to Jesus, "You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased (Luke 3:22). " Jesus walked His entire life on earth, always abiding in the love of His Father. Though we are incomplete, our good Father speaks to us in the same way, "You are my beloved son/daughter; with you I am well pleased."

3.Seeing Those around Us through the Eyes of Our Heavenly Father

Jesus said that the Father sent Him and that He came to seek and save the lost. Jesus always saw the people around Him through the eyes of His Father. When He saw people suffering in sin and sickness, He had compassion on them (Matthew 9:36) and invited them to rest in Himself (Matthew 11:28). If we learn to live in close fellowship with our Father, we will be able to see not only ourselves but also those around us through His eyes.

4.Sharing What Our Father Has Given Us

One of the noble purposes for which Jesus went to the cross is to share His resurrection (eternal) life with all who come to Him. Jesus bore our sins and was tried and condemned to death so that we could be set free from the bondage of sin. He became accursed so that we could be made children of God and live in His grace, and He bore our sicknesses so that we could be healed. All of these material and spiritual blessings are gifts from our Heavenly Father. The Bible promises that the Father will make us content in whatever circumstances we find ourselves in. But this does not mean that God will fulfill anything we selfishly desire.

He wants us to share abundantly with others the grace He has given us at the expense of His beloved, only begotten Son. The essence of the fellowship (koinonia) of the family of God is sharing the life of Jesus Christ. The essence of the proclamation of the gospel is sharing the abundant life in Jesus Christ with those who are lost in sin.

The four points above are important truths that form the foundation of our faith. For those busy, it may be a challenge to maintain a daily dialogue with our Heavenly Father. It may also be against our emotions to continue to see ourselves and those around us through the eyes of our Heavenly Father, and to continue to speak as our Heavenly Father speaks to us. But as we continue to do so, change will surely come, even if it is slow. This change begins first in our hearts and then spreads to our immediate relationships. We will experience the gradual expansion of a tiny Kingdom of God in our lives.