Articles
Christ, The Ultimate Spiritual Foundation
Ephesians 2:19-20 reads, “So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone.” Wait a minute…I thought Jesus Christ was supposed to be the bedrock of God’s church. Why then, does it say the prophets and apostles are the foundation?
Traditionally, the cornerstone is the first stone placed in a foundation and determines the positioning of the whole structure. Members of God’s church can finish laying the foundation and build upon it, but true righteousness is shown to mankind through Jesus Christ and ultimately comes from Him above. The apostle Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 3:10-11, “According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it. For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.”
The reason why God’s children must “take care” is because anyone can fool themselves into thinking they are laying a righteous foundation. However, when someone acts outside Jesus Christ’s example, that person only accomplishes sin. Matthew 7:26-27 tells us, “And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.”
When Jesus Christ becomes the spiritual cornerstone, Ephesians 2:21 reads, “In whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.” Staying diligent and obedient to God’s ways is the only way His children can truly build each other up to become a unified church that withstands anything. Matthew 7:24-25 says, “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock.”
