My Foundation, part one

Post pre-note: I thought maybe this could be explained in a few paragraphs. But no, long-worded Joy could not manage that. Because I feel it so important to share this with you all, I have divided my post into parts 1 and 2. Please come back in a few days and read part 2.

I learned something quite amazing the other day. These words cut cleanly and sharply right to my heart. In fact, they spoke so loudly that I couldn't wait to get home and write about it. It's funny how we hear words, sayings, poems, verses time after time and don't really get their meaning. But then one day, wham, the meaning is clear and rings so true. I wasn't quite sure how to approach what I learned, whether from a more logical, study format or from how I personally related to the message. And so I decided to incorporate both ways, since that is how my mind operates when processing something new.

I had an encounter with 1 Corinthians 3:11-15. Here's what the apostle Paul writes: "For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, his 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 man's work. If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward. If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames." (NIV)

The verses prior to these related what some people from the church in Corinth were saying. Some were indoctrinated by Apollos, others by Paul. Paul said, "Hey, it don't matter!" What matters is that your foundation is based on Jesus Christ. A true relationship with Him, where what we do, think, breathe is Jesus Christ. These individuals who teach, lead, and preach are mere vessels used by God to spread the Gospel. They water and feed the garden, the flock. It is Jesus Christ who can only make us grow. He is the only one true Foundation. Everything else that is built on it may be toppled or burned.

Different denominations, churches, and movements teach different belief systems and doctrines. Some of these are not correct. Some beliefs are based on Biblical truth. Paul used 6 different materials symbolically representing what we may use to build on top of our foundation. Gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay, and straw. Out of these six, only three could survive fire without being consumed: stones, silver, gold. These represent the Biblical truths that are right on, messages of truth spoken in the Word that God has revealed to us. The other three, the wood, hay and straw will burn up quickly. These are of course beliefs we have that are based from misinterpretations of the Word. How do I know if what I believe is correct? Through the fire, the fire that purifies and refines. Through test, time, and tribulation. If what I have built on my Foundation (Jesus Christ) is based on Biblical truths, then after the fire comes, I will receive my reward. If I have a Foundation, a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, and the materials I used to build on my Foundation were Biblically incorrect, when the fire comes, I will feel the loss. "You mean what I believed all this time isn't right?" I'll feel the disappointment, the personal loss of having been deceived or misled, or the emptiness from time lost on incorrect teachings. But here's the good news. Even though the beliefs and doctrines were not correct, because my foundation was in Jesus Christ, I still will be saved. It says it right there, "he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames." The key, the saving grace is our Foundation!!

That's why it's so important to spread the Gospel, to introduce the whole world to Jesus Christ. They need a foundation based on Him!! WE need a Jesus Christ Foundation!!

Come back in a few days and I will share how these verses personally applied to me.