Christ Our Foundation

By Todd Crouch 

When My youngest son Jonathan was six years old he came into my office and made a simplistically profound statement , which he always had done.

Jonathan said to me “Dad if you build your house on sand when it storms it will fall down, so you should build on a big rock” and so I asked him “what is the rock that a house should be built on?” and he answered “Jesus!” . . . apparently he had been paying some measure of attention in our Children’s church. I then asked him “what is the sand? . . . and he said “anything else” .

This simple exchange showed a grasp of something that few of us learn in this life, that the house of our lives needs to be built on Jesus Christ alone. The house on a rock is drawn from “Sermon on the Mount” which we find in the Gospel account of Matt 7: 24-27.

“Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock .The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.” Matt:7:24-27

The Sands  

Jesus, using a rhetorical illustration shows us something that will keep us stable in all storms of this life. The sand he was speaking of was that which we find around the Sea of Galilee.  Many in Jesus’ audience would have been familiar with the practice of mistaking the hard dry sand for that area for a stable building foundation. Some would look about and seeing the dry sand would begin building their homes using the seemingly hard sand as their foundation. And as long as the weather cooperated and there were no hard storms in the area or only very light rains their houses stayed standing.

Bedrock

However, what they could and should have done was to dig down and excavate the sand away, which had they done so, they would have found solid bedrock on which they could have built. This solid bedrock which underlays the whole area is massive in size and in depth is solid and virtually unshakable and would have provided all the stability that they could ever have needed. No amount of rain could have washed this rock away; it is as permanent as anything on the earth can be. Unshakeable and strong.

But the Rains Came

But , as it is in life, the seemingly stable house which these persons had built on what they believed to be a good foundation came under the weather of the Galilean rainy season. Storms quickly and unpredictably would arise and rain would fall from the sky which caused sand to turn into mud. This quickly dissolved and washed away the sand foundation, on which the people had built their houses, all of it gave way under the falling rain and the winds blowing in off the low lying Sea of Galilee, which sat in a crater like depression in the earth would accelerate the wind and the driving rains.

Inevitable Fall

Inevitably , as the foundation shifted and devolved the wall of the house would give way to its own weight the roof would come down as Jesus said “and it fell with a great crash”  everything those people who lived there had built was now gone in a moment, washed away and collapsed.

The foundation was unsuitable to face the weather. All gone, all lost in a pile of tangled ruble. It was inevitable, it always happened when a house is built on the wrong foundation. The bedrock would have been better, their house would still stand in spite of the wind and rain.

 The Right Foundation

Jesus, in the “Sermon on the Mount”, which traditionally is thought to have been given in the area northwest of Capernaum, an area that would have recognized Jesus’ reference to the sand . And just a note about the “Sermon on the Mount”, what we are actually reading is probably a summary of the general and longer message that Jesus had been presenting to the public as He toured the area at the very start of His public ministry after demonstrating in the Judean Wilderness that He is the Messiah in Matthew 4 Compare it with the “Sermon on the Plain” in Luke 6:17-49.

The lesson is , that many people in life are like those house builders who chose to build on what they believe to be a solid foundation, a foundation which will not allow their house to stand, it can’t, when storms arise the rain falls or winds blow it is inevitable the house of their live will come down with a great crash. 

The Rock is There 

Yet , all along there was a solid bedrock waiting to be used, just a few feet away so close at hand that it was literally underfoot. So many go through this life building on what they think will endure and give them stability against the storms of life, whatever it is that they chose to build their life’s house on if it is not the solid rock it will come crashing down.

 Jesus is The Rock

Jesus said “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.he rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock.”

When we hear the Word of God it directs to Who Jesus is. When we hear and respond and build our lives on Him then we can endure the unexpected storms that arise so suddenly.  

Jesus is that Rock that we can build on  no amount of wind or rain , that is the storms of life , will wash Him away. Jesus is unshakeable and strong without measure. He is able to see us through anything that blows our way. We need to clear away the sand so that our lives can be built on the rock that is Jesus.

Christians, and all people should build their lives on Jesus. He is that Rock we need under us to give us stability.

In Matthew 16:18 Jesus speaking to Peter 2000 years ago, but to us today as well, uses some interesting words. Peter has just uttered his confession that Jesus “is the Christ the Son of the living God”, then Jesus speaks of His church, that is Christians throughout the ages, he says “And I tell you that you are Peter, (Petros) and on this rock (Petra) I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.”

Now ,the words that Jesus uses here for rock are, in the Greek ,when speaking to Peter “Petros”, which means a rock, but then Jesus uses a different word “Petra” which means a great Rock, bigger, stronger, massive.

It becomes rather obvious that Jesus is speaking that Peter might be a rock, but only He Jesus is the Big Rock on which we should be built upon and on Him alone, nothing else will work.

I Corinthians 10:1-13; That Rock Was Christ, We are told by Paul that Jesus is that Rock.

No Other Foundation

All others will fail us, no person, gold or silver, bricks or mortar, titles position, fame, whatever it is that we build the house of our life upon will sustain  and give us stability and bear us up during the storms of life. Jesus is there, practically underfoot the whole time just like that bedrock, unshakeable ,strong and willing to be our foundation. Build your life on Jesus, all others are sand that will wash away and collapse your house when the rains fall and the wind blows.  . . . Jesus is the Rock, anything else is just sand .

Benediction: May we each and all build our lives on Christ and Christ alone who is that strong foundation, today, tomorrow and forevermore. Amen

Todd Crouch is Currently the Pastor of the Topinabee Community Church, in Topinabee, MI. He Was the Long Time Host of The Fountain of Life Broadcast, which was aired on RKP Radio in Washington, PA and streamed around the world. He is a Fourth Degree Master Rank Black Belt in Tae Kwon Do and is a certified Tae Kwon Do instructor of Moke’s Martial Arts—Asian American Martial Arts Alliance. Todd studied Theology and Pastoral Ministry at Grace Communion Seminary. He is also a student of Church History, the America Civil War and Scottish History. He and his wife love to travel and the beach. They live in the Straits Area of Michigan. View Todd’s complete profile

Feature Image by Petar Ubiparip from Pixabay