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No structure can stand without an adequate foundation. Religion is no exception to this principle. No building or institution is stronger than its foundation. Paul writes, "Howbeit the firm foundation of God standeth..." (II Timothy 2:19) What is the firm foundation of our Christian religion? The same author forever settles the issue in his first letter to the Corinthians, "...other foundation can no man lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ" (I Corinthians 3:11) Thus Jesus the Son of God is forever the exclusive foundation upon which all things relating to true religion rest.
Christ Is The Foundation of Our Personal Faith
In John 8:24 the Lord told the Jews, "... except ye believe that I am he, ye shall die in your sins." We ask, just what must the sinner believe about Jesus? From Matthew 16:13-17 we learn that Jesus led Peter to confess that he was "The Christ, the Son of the Living God." Upon making this confession he was blest by the Lord. Paul writes in I Corinthians 15:1-4 that the gospel message is based upon the death, burial and resurrection of Christ. He reminds them that in becoming Christians they had received this, stood upon it and been saved by it. No less is expected of mankind today. Except we believe that Jesus was the Messiah come down from his Father in heaven; that he suffered, died and was truly resurrected from the grave, we will die in our sins. Our salvation then rests upon our faith in a living savior, not in one who lived long ago but died like Buddha or Zoraster. Our faith is in the reigning King, not just in a system of religion. If the Lord had not been raised then our faith would surely be in vain (I Corinthians 15:14). So with those first evangelists, we proclaim to all dying sinners, "Believe on the Lord Jesus and thou shalt be saved..." (Acts 16:31).
Jesus is the Foundation of the Church
Having paused near the city of Caesarea Philippi, a city founded upon a great ledge of solid rock, Jesus asked his disciples who men thought he was? Peter enunciated their common faith that he was the Messiah, the Son of the living God. Jesus declared that upon that rock of truth... i.e., his personal deity, he would found his church (Matthew 15:13-18). It was not to be built upon Peter, whose name meant "pebble," as Rome asserts, but upon the Master's Godhood. Using a slightly different imagery, Paul writes that the church is "built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the chief cornerstone" (Ephesians 2:19-22). In his example, the first stone laid, the primary stone upon which the first corner is raised and rests, is Jesus Christ. Any church or religious institution with any other foundation than the Savior is of no value to those who take membership in it (I Corinthians 3:10-11). Every sincere soul wishing to please God and be saved must ask what is the foundation of his religious institution? If a church was founded by any individual or group of men other than Jesus, its foundation is faulty and it will fall even as a house built upon the sand (Matthew 7:26-27).
Christ Is The Foundation of Our Doctrine, Worship and Practice
He has all the authority in heaven and on earth (Matthew 28:18). His authority has replaced that of Moses. When Peter would have shown equal honor to Moses the lawgiver, Elijah the prophet, and Jesus, God spoke from heaven saying, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased, hear ye him." When he dared to look up he saw only Jesus (Matthew 17:1-8). Today the words of Jesus are our foundation. His new covenant has replaced the old law. Jeremiah had predicted the day when God would make a new covenant with men (Jeremiah 31:31). Christ has given us that new covenant which is better than the old, containing better promises (Hebrews 8:6-7). Now that we have the new, the old covenant is nigh unto vanishing away (Hebrews 8:13).
As disciples of Jesus we look only to him for our authority in religion. We reject the doctrines and commandments of men which the Master said make only for vain worship (Matthew 15:9). We cannot rest upon the traditions of our relatives for they, too, are only men and can be wrong. Paul had once been strong for the traditions of his fathers but left that behind when he turned to Christ (Galatians 1:14-16). We listen to the will of God's Son regardless of the opinions of the majority. The voice of the people is not the voice of God. The majority has traditionally followed the broad way that leads to destruction (Matthew 7:13).
Mary's Son Is The Foundation of our Morality
The letter to Titus reminds us that "the grace of God hath appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us, to the intent that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly and righteously and godly in this present world" (Titus 2:11-12). To be a Christian means to live a godly life, abstaining from the moral wickedness of the world about us. We daily witness a world floundering in indecision and confusion as to what is or is not moral. They cannot even decide upon the most heinous of deeds such as sexual perversion, drunkenness, drug abuse, and destruction of marriage. The Christian, however, steadfastly follows his divine example, Jesus, and accepts his moral guidelines which are time-tested and universally approved. Laws alone, even principles of conduct, are sometimes difficult to comprehend or apply. But an example is much easier to follow. We are taught to look to Jesus the author and perfecter of our faith as we run our earthly race (Hebrews 12:1-2). He left us an example and we should follow his footsteps (I Peter 2:21-22). Christ teaches us that the old moral code is still the best one. "...he that loveth his neighbor hath fulfilled the law. For this, thou shall not commit adultery, thou shall not kill, thou shall not steal, thou shalt not covet, and if there by any other commandment it is summed up in this word, namely, thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself" (Romans 13:8-9).
Christ is The Foundation of Our Hope
Christianity is a religion of hope. We confidently expect to be raised from the grave. We firmly expect to live with our God in glory. But it is our faith in Christ that gives us this assurance. "Now Faith is assurance of things hoped for, a conviction of things not seen" (Hebrews 11:1). "For in hope we were saved..." (Romans 8:24). Paul wrote, it is "Christ in you the hope of glory" (Colossians 1:27). Because our Jesus is God's Son, because he rose from Joseph's tomb, because he ascended back into heaven before eyewitnesses, to reign at God's right hand, because he now has all power in heaven and earth, we can expect, without doubt or reservation, all of his promises to be fulfilled. "Let not your heart be troubled, believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions... I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I come again, and will receive you unto myself; that where I am there ye may be also" (John 14:1-3). No wonder Paul called it "that blessed hope and appearing of the glory of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ," for which we look (Titus 2:13).
Christ Is The Sinner's Only Hope
Every sinner needs to recognize that without Christ, he would be without hope (Ephesians 2:11-13). But now that Christ has come, all men, even the most wicked, can be saved from doom (I Timothy 1:15). But the sinner has no options for "in none other is there salvation: for neither is there any other name under heaven, that is given among men, wherein we must be saved" (Acts 4:12). Today Jesus is the merciful savior of all men who will turn to him in trusting obedience. A day is coming when he shall judge the world in righteousness (Acts 17:31). Today sinners can have full pardon and receive this blessed hope. In that day of judgment all who are found in their sins will die therein, never seeing the joys of salvation in heaven (John 8:24).
Surely Jesus is the Christian's sure foundation and the sinner's only hope. When he appears in the clouds will he be your hope or your doom? John Waddey
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