Not a Man’s Foundation!

 “For we are labourers together with God: ye are God’s husbandry, ye are God’s building.  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. For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.” – 1 Corinthians 3:9-11

Too often in the church today we see man, not Jesus, highly exalted. Humanity’s pride is present, representing itself at its highest point, continually defaulting to connect with other men in order to make themselves feel worthy. Others are ignorantly drawn away, enticed or browbeaten to play “follow the leader”, often choosing to turn a blind eye in order to stay part of the crowd. Either way, Christ’s bride is being corrupted by this fleshly repetition throughout the ages. As we see the first church boldly taking a stand, declaring our true foundation in Christ, we should be moved to set the record straight in a day when truth is no longer absolute and feelings are more important than foundations.

From Adam’s first exaltation of self to be like the Most High (Genesis 3:5) to Solomon’s first steps to follow the ways of the world (1 Kings 3:3), throughout history we’ve seen the monuments of man raise up only to crumble, always being mixed with the sinking sands of pride. This writer believes it’s because we way too often deceive ourselves, ignoring the continual reminder to read and heed the schematics (God’s Word) given by the Grand Designer.

I mean, who better to turn to then Jesus Himself, the Author and Finisher of our faith (Hebrews 12:2)? He declares throughout His Word to turn to Him, respond to Him, and follow Him. Why would we start out with Jesus, letting Him lead, only to then decide to try and find a shortcut or newly paved road built by someone else?  As crazy as this sounds, this is all too often our mentality. We may see our Savior in the forefront, but throughout our race we take our eyes off of Him, removing our training wheels and forgetting that He intends for us to always rely on Him. Jesus is not a guru starting us on some so-called path of enlightenment. Jesus is the only way, truth, and life (John 14:6). He is the Supreme Counselor (Isaiah 9:6); the One Who calls out His bride to remain faithful to Him and Him alone.

We start our race secure in the fact that Jesus is the flawless, perfect God, yet soon lies begin to flow in. Soon we begin hearing things like the need to be culturally relevant in order to get men to respond. Our fork in the road begins to emerge and though we may intend to keep Jesus on the podium, over time it’s easy to raise up men and their ideas in His place. It is easy to allow our foundation to shift like unsteady sand (Matthew 7:26).

May it not be so!  May we repent and remember that Jesus alone is our Only Rock Solid and Eternal Foundation! He is the sole reason for church’s very existence, the only One in which we must completely depend on both for ourselves and to help those around us. The fruit from Jesus alone can reach out to the world as a testimony of His goodness and truth and will come as a direct result of standing firm on Christ alone.

When our eyes are finally opened as born again believers, the silliness and craftiness of the world becomes humiliating.  It takes recognition that we are fools and that true knowledge comes from the Maker and Sustainer of the world.  In the end, the wisdom of the world is empty, vain, and lacking evidence in the simplest of truth all for the sake of pride.  We are to leave this false wisdom with the dead man we buried and cling to the Lord!

I love how the Lord leads us in the rest of that chapter from above.

“Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world, let him become a fool, that he may be wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness. And again, the Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain. Therefore let no man glory in men. For all things are yours; whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours; and ye are Christ’s; and Christ is God’s.” – 1 Corinthians 3:18-23

May we be disgusted when looking around at the world and instead delighted with Jesus, turning our eyes on Him, seeking the true and wise King of the Universe. Man has fouled up enough things! We need to abandon the ship of idol worship and glory alone in Christ.  He is our Foundation; He is our Salvation. He is our Holy Spirit, guiding and directing us more and more away from the world and closer to Him.  Simply put, He is the anointed Messiah. Instead of foolishly thinking there are new and improved floor plans, may we take heed to the directions already given and flee to Jesus!