The Foundation of Jesus Christ

When people build houses, buildings, or bridges, the first thing they do is foundational work. Without a good foundation, any structure cannot stay long. Wind, rain, change of temperature, or movements of the earth will surely test the soundness of its foundation. Therefore, builders spend considerable time in foundational work such as digging out deep, putting steel beams, or pouring cements on them, before erecting structures. It will be extremely foolish if a builder ignores foundational work but quickly wants to build a house.

¹⁰ By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as a wise builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should build with care. ¹¹ For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. ¹² If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, ¹³ their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work. (1 Corinthians 3:10-13)

Paul says that he, as an expert builder, laid a foundation of Jesus Christ on it whenever he established a church. His saying implies that there are people who try to establish none other than the foundation of Jesus Christ. Anyone who has ever had an experience in establishing a church will agree that his or her first concern is church growth. In order to draw people, pastors may have a temptation to build the foundations of their churches upon water-down messages, pop psychology, positive thinking, philosophy, or the gospel of wealth and health other than the gospel of Jesus Christ, because people want to hear that kind of message. In this stress-filled and depressed society, they want to hear uplifting, positive, consoling messages. But if you read 2 Corinthians 4, Paul avoided using such short-cuts and human schemes. Instead of distorting the word of God, he plainly presented the gospel of Jesus Christ. Why did he do so? In 1 Corinthians Chapter 1:18, Paul says, “the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” Or in 1:22, 23, “Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles.” He did it because only the message of the cross would save people even though it is offensive to their hearts.

What does the gospel of Jesus Christ declare? First, the gospel of Jesus Christ points out that all men are sinners. If I borrow Jonathan Edwards’ famous sermon title, all men are sinners in the hands of an angry God. Of course modern people do not believe that they are condemned sinners before God. They have ideas that men are intrinsically good, or that their destructive and violent behaviors can be remedied by education and proper social engineering. Some predict that men can construct utopia on earth by the advance of science, the expansion of democracy, or study of human nature. Or some believe that the increase of income will make people’s lives better. But the gospel of Jesus Christ declares that men cannot have any hope in themselves because they are sinners. It declares that men are walking in the wrong way before God, no matter how educated, moral, or successful they may be.

Another more offensive point that the gospel of Jesus Christ declares is that men will never become good by themselves. To God’s eyes, all their achievements will be nothing but evil and sinful. These are the plain teachings from the Bible. The cross of Jesus Christ testifies that men are so hopeless that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, had to come and die on the cross for our sins. Therefore, if a church wants to build its foundation upon the gospel of Jesus Christ, it must boldly and plainly proclaim that men are sinners, even though they do not want to hear it.

Second, the gospel of Jesus Christ points out that men are responsible beings and in due course must give account of themselves to God (Rom. 14:12). Increasingly people have an idea that it does not matter at all at the end no matter how they have lived. Modern people do not believe God’s ultimate judgment upon how they have lived on earth. They do not believe there will be eternal punishment designed for sinners. They argue that how the God of love could send people to the place of eternal torment. Without believing God’s judgment on their behaviors, people violate God’s laws and cheat others as long as they are not caught. But the gospel of Jesus Christ clearly declares that God will surely judge people upon how each person has lived on earth. If there would be no God’s judgment, God would not have punished Jesus on the cross in our place. God acted in that way, for he could not simply ignore as if nothing had happened. The gospel of Jesus Christ clearly declares that there will be the day of reckoning, the Day of Judgment. All would stand before the seat of Christ’s judgment and give their account to God for things done in the body, whether good or bad. Therefore, if a church wants to build its foundation upon the gospel of Jesus Christ, it should boldly and plainly proclaim that there will be the Day of God’s judgment and there will be God’s eternal punishment for sinners.

Third, the gospel of Jesus Christ teaches that the only way of salvation is only through believing Jesus Christ, and that it is absolutely possible for a sinner to be saved because what Jesus did on the cross. As I said before, men cannot save themselves. Who can stand righteous before God’s piercing eyes? Do men love God with all their hearts and souls and minds, even though he is their God? No, they love so many things other than God. Do they love their fellow men as they love themselves? No, they are by nature selfish and self-centered. Do they always think and imagine good things? No, their minds are full of lust, greed, hatred, and anger. Men by nature are neither able to lift a finger to do God’s will nor voluntarily obey him. As the Bible says that, we are powerless and helpless and hopeless in our sins. But the great good news is that God did not leave us in our misery and sent his Son Jesus Christ so that he might die on the cross for our sins in our place. And whoever believes in him, he forgives all his or her sins, quickens his or her soul, and enables him or her do good by the power of the Holy Spirit so that he or she might at last go to heaven. Therefore, if a church wants to build its foundation upon the gospel of Jesus Christ, it must boldly and plainly claim that God forgives our sins through what Christ did on the cross and that he makes us new creation.

Having said that, what does it practically mean that Jesus Christ is the foundation? How does the foundation of Jesus Christ direct our practical Christian lives? If you believe that Jesus is the foundation of your salvation, first, it means that you recognize that you are not center of the universe, and that you humbly recognize your pitiful status as condemned sinner before God, but by the grace of God you were saved through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross. In other words, believing Jesus as the foundation of your life completely changes your view of life. Once your happiness, enjoying this life to the full, was the ultimate goal of your life. But now you see God is the center of the universe and he is so concerned about your righteous (or unrighteous) and holy (or unholy) living. You are aware of God’s concern about your life and come to know that you have to know God and his will seriously. But who will live like that unless one accepts the gospel of Jesus Christ in a true sense! However, alas, even though some profess that they are Christians, they consider Jesus to be just one of accessories in their lives. Jesus is the person who forgives their sins, consoles them, cheers them up as their friend, but he never becomes the center of their lives, for they never understand the gospel of Jesus Christ. In other words, the gospel of Jesus Christ is not the foundation of their Christian lives. Therefore, when due time to choose between Jesus’ and their own interest, they follow their own and fall away from believing Jesus Christ. By doing so, they reveal they have not built their lives upon the foundation of Jesus Christ.

Once I really liked to watch the show, ‘Jon & Kate plus 8’ in TLC channel. Probably, the fact that guy was half- Korean might draw my attention. I visited their website and found out that they listed many contemporary Christian songs as their favorite ones in their website. They seemed to be good Christians. They wrote the book, Multiple Blessings, published by one of Christian publishing companies. I am sure that many church leaders endorsed the book. Then, boom, their marriage fell apart after the report of the guy’s affair. Then they had a nasty divorce battle. Their marriage was not sound as it appeared. The foundation of their marriage was exposed.

If one’s foundation is other than that of Jesus Christ, his or her foundation will be exposed sooner or later. Life will throw a hard ball to test one’s foundation, through temptation, or trials, or even good time. According to a new study from Princeton University, people whose household income is about or above $75,000 worth a year consider themselves sort of satisfied with their lives because of their quality of life. Wealth will easily expose one’s foundation as a Christian. If he or she has enough money to enjoy life, why will he or she desperately seek Jesus? In an opposite way, disappointments and trials of life also will easily expose one’s foundation. When I was a young man with idealism and high-mindedness, I expected that people would respond to my Bible teaching with excitement. But what I realized was that most of people are not interested in the word of God and even violently object it. In my foolishness, sometimes I wondered believing Jesus was really worth. Unless my faith had not been rooted in the foundation of Jesus Christ by the grace of God, I would have been tempted to give up in following him. Yes, unless you understand the gospel of Jesus Christ, unless you believe you are a hopeless sinner before God and your only remedy is Jesus Christ, you will be tempted to give up your faith when the winds of temptation and trials beat you down.

Another practical application is that if you truly believe in the gospel of Jesus Christ, you are not satisfied with what you are, but prepare yourself utmost for the Day of Judgment. If you truly believe the gospel of Jesus Christ, you will see that the reason why God saved us is because he wants us to be holy. Some Christians miss this point. God’s ultimate goal for us is not only to save us but also to make us fit for the kingdom of God. God calls, saves, justifies, sanctifies, and glorifies us. For this reason the Holy Spirit works in our hearts so that we may be sanctified and grow in Christ. Of course, there are no Christians who are fully perfect and holy. Christians, too, sin because they still carry their sinful nature. However, the one big difference between Christians and non-Christians is that a Christian is the person who constantly wages on spiritual battle against sin and grows in Jesus Christ, knowing that God enables him or her to overcome his or her sinful nature by the power of God. Of course, he or she will fail many times, but he or she never gives up in his or her pursuit. If you are just satisfied with the fact that you are saved but neither fight against your sinful nature but are content with as you are, nor do not grow in love, holiness, relationship with God and others, you have to seriously be concerned about the genuineness of your salvation, before it is too late. God cannot be mocked. The day will reveal the quality of your work.

Let us pray that we may build our foundation upon the gospel of Jesus Christ. Whether people want to hear it or not, the purpose of our churches should be preaching the gospel of Christ, telling people they are sinners before God and that they have to repent and believe the gospel of Jesus Christ. The gospel of Jesus Christ must be its center. We Christians don’t glory in our own success, wealth, position, or anything. When we meet together, we come as wretched sinners before God and only through God’s grace we stand in him. Whenever we meet, we are to praise and glorify the name of Jesus Christ. Let us also pray that our churches are the places that we grow in love and holiness. God called us not to stay in sin but out of sin by the power of the Holy Spirit and continuously grow in the image of God. That was the reason he made us new creation in Christ. If we don’t have any desire to be different than the world, we will fail God’s purpose in our salvation. Let our lives reveal the power of the Holy Spirit and the fruits of the Holy Spirit, showing that we are indeed redeemed people by the blood of Jesus Christ.