Title This Ground Is Jesus Christ
Content Date Time: July 29, 2007
Title: This Foundation Is Jesus Christ
Verse: 1 Corinthians 3:10-15
“According to the grace of God that has been given to me, I have laid a foundation like a wise builder, and others build upon it, but let each one be careful how he builds upon it. Jesus Christ, if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, grass, or straw, each man's work will be revealed, and the day will reveal his work, which will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test each man's work. For if anyone's work on it remains, he will receive a reward; if anyone's work is burned up, he will suffer harm; but he himself will be saved, as if in fire."
<Introduction>
Today, I would like to share the word of grace with you under the title, 'This foundation is Jesus Christ'.
When a building catches fire, a house made of wood, grass or straw is turned to ashes, leaving nothing behind. However, a house built of steel or cement leaves bones behind. The same is true of our religious life. When you receive the Lord's rewarding judgment later, those who built a house of faith with worldly things will be lost. But a house built of gold, silver, or precious stones will be able to withstand the fire of judgment and stand forever, and will receive a reward. All of our lives are builders of houses. In life, some build houses and some don't.
Contrasting world-famous buildings are the Leaning Tower of Pisa in Tuscany, Italy, and the Empire State Building in Manhattan, New York, USA. Comparing these two buildings shows just how important the site of the building is. The Empire State Building is well built on a large rock, so it won't shake no matter how strong the wind blows. However, since the Leaning Tower of Pisa was built on a weak foundation, it is now in danger of collapse, leaning 5.2 meters since construction began in 1174. Therefore, it is very important to clean the ground well. The same is true of our faith. The house of faith must be built on a foundation that is strong, sure, unshakable, and indestructible. If a house of faith is built on a foundation that is shaken, the foundation will collapse and the house will also crumble.
<Body>
1. Cleaning the house and the ground
That is why our homes and foundations of our faith are incredibly important. People are paving the way for humanism and building their futures on it. Humanistic ground means building a house for one's life on the ground achieved through self-reliance, such as human philosophy, science, discipline, effort, asceticism, and religion.
In the Bible, Colossians 2:8, beware lest anyone take you captive with philosophy and vain deceit.
Everything that has been laid down by human efforts will crumble and nothing will remain. The fact that the capitals of our historically prosperous ancient countries are piled up on piles of stones and there is nothing left is that all the ground laid down by humans becomes like that. There is also a ground for syncretism. There are those who say that humans should add to the ground that God has built, that is, that the foundation should be built through a joint effort between God and humans. No matter how much God gives us grace, we must keep the law to be saved. No matter how much grace is given, we can receive God's grace only if we abstain from it and practice asceticism. No matter how much you receive God's grace, you need that grace only if you are circumcised or perform religious ceremonies. There are people who say that. It means that the ground of syncretism must be cleared. But you can never have another ground. There is only Jesus Christ on which we build the house of life.
It is said in 1 Corinthians 3:11, "No one is able to lay any other foundation except this one, which is Jesus Christ."
The foundation of Jesus' atoning death and resurrection on the cross is the eternal and absolute foundation. Only Jesus bore the sins of all mankind in his stead, tore his body and shed his blood on the cross to pay it off forever, so that no matter what winds of sin it blows, it will not be shaken and will not be destroyed.
Acts 4:11-12, “This Jesus is the stone rejected by you builders, and has become the cornerstone of the house. We can be saved in no one else. There is no other name under heaven given to us by which we must be saved.” The Bible is what it says.
This home is a gift of God's grace and cannot be bought with a price. It is a great work that God has accomplished through our Lord Jesus Christ. We can neither add nor subtract anything from the foundation of this great history. We receive the foundation God has made as a gift of grace and build our life's house on it. There is absolutely no way we can receive the land that God has laid down by paying the price. God loved the world so much that he gave his only begotten Son, and Jesus loved us so much that he tore his body and shed his blood to wipe away this mess. It is impossible for human beings to pay the price to buy the foundation built by the eternal Son of God by supporting his life. It is only what we receive as a gift of grace that God has polished.
Ephesians 2:8-9 "For by grace you have been saved, through faith, and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God, not by works, so that no one can boast."
Ah! I helped clear this ground. It helped me to clean the ground with my own strength. This is what God is doing so that we do not boast like this. The foundation of Christ is the foundation that God alone has built for eternity. Only God will be glorified, and God gave us this foundation as a free gift. By accepting Jesus Christ by faith, we lay the foundation of our lives on it.
2. Build a house
Psalm 19:9-11, “The way of the fear of the LORD is pure and lasts forever, and the law of the LORD is true, and all are just. this?....