The foundation of salvation

“By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should be careful how he builds. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ.” 1 Corinthians 3:10-11
In Matthew 7 Jesus told a parable about two men who built houses, one on the rock, and the other on the sand. Although both houses were identical in every other respect, when the storm came, the house on the sand was destroyed while the house on the rock stood firm. The man who built the house on the rock represented someone who heard Jesus words and put them into practice, while the man who built the house on the sand represented someone who did not put His words into practice.
Here in New Zealand, we read hundreds of stories of people in Christchurch who are now having to deal with the consequences of building on reclaimed swamp land. They are facing the effects of ongoing liquefaction after 18 months of severe earthquakes. Their houses are all but destroyed, as the silt bubbles up, the houses sink, the walls are warped out of shape. It might have been easy to build there, but it has come at a cost.
Here in 1 Corinthians 3, Paul uses a similar picture of building upon a foundation, with that foundation being Jesus Christ. Without Him, it doesn’t matter how we build our life – all will be destroyed if we are not grounded on Christ the rock. Two people may give to charity, volunteer for meals-on-wheels, even go to church every week – none of this matters if they do not have the foundation of Jesus Christ. Here’s the question for all of us today: is Jesus Christ the foundation in your life? And how are you building? (We’ll discuss more on this aspect in a later post.)