So the title of this blog is the Omega Foundation. In this post I will be focusing on the Foundation aspect of the title. The purpose of this blog as a whole is to document my journey in finding a foundation to base my life on. So today I will be looking at the two questions; why is it important that I build a strong foundation? and what is the foundation which I need to build my life on?
It is generally known that the foundation is the most important part of a building. If the foundation is crooked, the building will also be built in a crooked way. In addition to this, if the foundation is weak, no matter how strong the materials or construction method of the building on top of this weak foundation, the building will still be weak and will not last a long time. The bible refers to this in the following passages.
David the Psalmist – Psa 11:3 If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?
Without a foundation you cannot start building. Everyone must have a foundation for their life, no matter what it is they are doing. This text suggest that if someone is righteous, if the foundations are not there, they can still do nothing. Lets take a look at what Jesus says about a proper foundation:
Jesus – Luk 6:47 Whosoever cometh to me, and heareth my sayings, and doeth them, I will shew you to whom he is like: Luk 6:48 He is like a man which built an house, and digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock: and when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it: for it was founded upon a rock. Luk 6:49 But he that heareth, and doeth not, is like a man that without a foundation built an house upon the earth; against which the stream did beat vehemently, and immediately it fell; and the ruin of that house was great.
Jesus is saying that if a house has a weak foundation; in this example earth or soil, it will not last if a terrible storm comes, the waters rise and rush against the house. In this case of a soil foundation, the soil will be washed away with the water, and as mentioned before, no mater how strong the brick was which was built on the soil, these will all fall down once the foundation is swept away. These bricks will be carried away in the torrent of water and there will be nothing left of the house. Jesus links the house built on the soil to people who hear what Jesus is saying yet still do what they want to do. When the tests and trials of life come, these people will not be able to stand.
On the other hand, people who listen to everything Jesus has to say, and follows it diligently will be like a house which is founded on the rock. When a storm comes, and the waters rush against the rock, the rock will NOT wash away. The rock will be going nowhere, therefore the house built on this rock will be able to stand.
It is so important that we build our lives on something which is not going to fade away when tested. Something which is tried and tested, something which is totally solid and immoveable. This passage teaches that the TEACHINGS OF JESUS are a solid foundation, and it is God’s will that we build our lives on these. I think will begin to study these teachings in greater depth, I think I will even put a whole section on this blog space on the teachings of Jesus. This is the foundation I want to build on. Lets move onto another place where Jesus also mentions the word foundation.
Jesus – Luk 14:28 For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it? Luk 14:29 Lest haply, after he hath laid the foundation, and is not able to finish it, all that behold it begin to mock him,
The context of this passage is that loads of people wanted to follow Jesus, but he wanted them to realise that they need to really think about it before they made the commitment, as it would require them to turn away from all that they had known or had relations with. Jesus said that anyone who would come after him must forsake all that they had. This is deep in itself and I think I need to study this aswell, “Forsaking all that I have” wow, that would be hard. Anyway, looking at the foundation, in this parable Jesus is saying that I really need to think about what I am trying to build before I get into it. When building the foundation for life, I really need to seriously think how I am going to build because this will shape the rest of my life, and like Jesus said if I choose the wrong foundation (soil) I will not be able to stand the things life throws at me.
Now moving on from Jesus, I see in the New Testament that Paul also speaks of this foundation. Lets see what he says.
Paul – 1Co 3:10 According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon. 1Co 3:11 For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 1Co 3:12 Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; 1Co 3:13 Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is.
Paul was one of the greatest ever apostles of the gospel, he calls himself a masterbuilder, and later in the same passage he says that he building which he was constructing was the church. Not the physical church, but a group of people who would serve and follow God. He says that he laid the foundation, and that this foundation is Jesus Christ. He does not just refer to the teachings of Jesus Christ, but he extends this and says that Jesus himself is the foundation. Again he refers to the importance of building correctly. “let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon” and then he says that no man can lay another foundation other than Christ. So in his day people were probably building other foundations, faulty foundations. He goes onto say that the building needs to be built properly, because it will be tested by fire. This is the same as what Jesus was basically saying. If I want to make it through life, I need a solid unmoveable foundation.
Paul – Eph 2:20 And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone;
This is the final text I will look at in this post, it is talking about those who are part of the house of God. The foundation is now extended from Jesus and his teachings to also the apostles and prophets. The apostles are the new testament disciples of Jesus, those sent by God to spread the gospel to the world and the prophets, I think, here refers to the prophets of the old testament, Abraham, Moses, Isaiah, etc. The funny thing about all of these prophets is that they all pointed to Jesus. Their main focus was on telling the people about Jesus and directing them to him and his teachings. It is clear that the point was them directing us to Jesus, as the text says that Jesus was the Chief cornerstone. The cornerstone is the stone which makes the whole foundation straight, if this is removed, the foundation will be wonky. It is interesting that the places which teach me what the prophets and apostles say are the old and new testament.
So far, it is clear that it is important to have a foundation in the first place, or building cannot go forward. It is clear that Jesus and his teachings form the centre of a solid foundation. I also see that I need to take some serious consideration when building the foundation for my life, because it is possible to build a foundation which is weak, wonky and will fail me in times of testing. The last text I looked at, showed that the scriptures are the foundation which point me to Christ. He is the cornerstone so it is important that when I do read the scriptures I do not miss out their actual purpose, which is to direct me to Jesus, it is important that they point me to Jesus because Jesus is God, the eternal creator and if they point me to him, I cannot go wrong. One last point which has been on my mind is that Paul and Jesus talk strongly about people building foundations which are wrong, foundations which are not based on Jesus my wonderful God. I will look at this in future posts. But I think the obvious essence of a funky foundation is building your life on man, on the teachings and philosophies of man rather than on Jesus who is God the eternal creator.
I am just going to bullet point these conclusions so it is quick for me to pick them out when I look over this post in the future:
- If I do not have a foundation I cannot build my life
- Jesus forms the centre of a solid foundation
- Jesus’ teachings
- Jesus himself
- The writings of the apostles and prophets in the Bible is a solid foundation
- They point us to Jesus Christ
- If I do not build my foundation on Jesus, it will be weak and fail in time of trouble
- Because the foundation is so important, I need to take serious time diligently building it
Omega Foundation 