August 21, 2009
Foundation
Years ago when we laid sod in the backyard we just piled the excess dirt by the fence. Depending on our landscaping needs, a shovelful of dirt here and there was added to or taken away from the pile. For the most part though, the heap just weathered in the elements and took on the shape of a mini-volcano. One summer a colony of entrepreneurial ants came by and couldn’t pass up the pre-formed anthill. With a little interior remodeling they made the dirt mound livable and took up residence. Our adding and subtracting eventually took its toll on the colony. Just goes to show that there is something to be said about, “building on someone else’s foundation”. (Ro 15:20)
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Gail;
-----It is inevitable that building will be done on another man’s foundation. Indeed, the knowledge we each use in living is almost entirely built upon foundations laid by others. School does not consist of experimenting with numbers until we each develop a set of mathematical principles, or experimenting with the material substance around us until we each have constructed the laws of physics, or digging at archeological sites and reading the letters and documents of past generations until we each formulate a knowledge of history. No, we go to school and learn all this from textbooks written by folks who learned most of what they know from textbooks written by yet other folks, etc., etc., etc. Even the church in our day is built upon foundations laid by others. It is an unavoidable part of being human.
-----Paul did not see his ministry as one of preaching in areas where Jesus had already been preached. He understood he was building the foundation for the church in the Gentile world, and he proceeded with a very serious frame of mind about that. So in his letter to the Romans, as you pointed out, he states this aspect of his ministry. But in the letter to the Corinthians, he further states the inevitability that many will be building upon foundations laid by others. “Like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and another man is building upon it. Let each man take care how he builds upon it.” (I Cor 3:10).
-----I have always considered Romans 15:20 to be for Paul, and I Cor 3:10 to be for me. So whether it be continuing my own education, or teaching, edifying, and encouraging others, I consider as carefully as I am able the foundation upon which I must inevitably build. In all areas of life many foundations have been laid, providing apparent choices between different ones. One can choose the foundation of evolution and humanism, or that of creation and religion. Or one can choose to incorporate the principles of evolution with those of religion and build upon the foundation of intelligent design. But however one chooses to build, Paul’s advice to build with care rings true.
-----For reality is not constructed by us. It has been constructed for us. All we can do is discover it. In the end, when all has been discovered, it will become known that only one foundation has been laid, Jesus Christ, with only one reality built upon Him. The Revelation given to John brings forth this conclusion, and many, many passages from the rest of the Word of God support its truth. When the rest of God’s planned events have transpired, what at that time will be known history will perfectly support the fact that all of this universe of existence, from the laws of physics to the laws of spirituality, were built by God upon the foundation of Jesus Christ. So, at that time the building that we have done upon the foundations we have chosen will have a known and undeniable pattern for comparison. If our works and lives have been built upon foundations other than Jesus Christ, the comparison to the true pattern will find them out, their falsehood will be painfully apparent. The builders, their works, and the foundations will all be cast into destruction. Only those who have built upon the real foundation will survive this comparison, and not because their works were found to be comparable to what God would have had them build, but simply because they built upon the real foundation. “If any man’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.” (I Cor. 3:15).
-----So I do not shy away from building upon foundations laid by others. That is unavoidable. Rather, I take as much precaution as I am able to build as true as possible upon the foundation already laid, always searching for the point of contact between my work and that foundation of Christ, and being painfully aware that some, maybe large, portions of my work will be flammable on that final day of testing.
Love you all,
Steve Corey
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