Foundation Issues

 

Friday, November 19, 2021

But in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead. He is the first of a great harvest of all who have died.  So you see, just as death came into the world through a man, now the resurrection from the dead has begun through another man.  Just as everyone dies because we all belong to Adam, everyone who belongs to Christ will be given new life.  But there is an order to this resurrection:  Christ was raised as the first of the harvest; then all who belong to Christ will be raised when he comes back.  After that the end will come, when he will turn the Kingdom over to God the Father, having destroyed every ruler and authority and power.  For Christ must reign until he humbles all his enemies beneath his feet.  And the last enemy to be destroyed is death.  For the Scriptures say, “God has put all things under his authority.”  (Of course, when it says “all things are under his authority,” that does not include God himself, who gave Christ his authority.)  Then, when all things are under his authority, the Son will put himself under God’s authority, so that God, who gave his Son authority over all things, will be utterly supreme over everything everywhere.  1 Corinthians 15:20-28

I’ve got some foundation issues.  A man arrived at our house the other day to look at a crack in the foundation.  Just the sight of a crack in the wall that has our bedroom on the other side of it robs me of sleep.  It’s like living in an earthquake zone; you never know what’s going to come crashing down.  We are getting the thing fixed, but that kind of assurance doesn’t come cheaply!

This part of Paul’s message to the Corinthian believers is just one of many that offer the wonderful assurance of resurrection and God’s authority.  What is so reassuring about these thoughts is how they’re backed by Scripture’s unwavering message of the nature of God’s being…all truth, and all righteousness.  To have a sovereign who rules with absolute authority, fidelity, and compassionate kindness means the end of injustice – the enthronement of eternal goodness.  That is the foundation with no crack in the construction! 

Like the peace of mind I will experience when the steel rods that will hold my house’s foundation are secured, anchored to the bedrock of the earth’s crust, Scripture’s assurance of my faith’s eternal foundation also comes at great cost.  Paul tells us Jesus’ resurrection is the first in an unbroken line of untold millions.  All those who are in-Christ, (those who place their entire trust in the sacrifice of His blood for us), will follow Him in resurrection.  Short story…Jesus died a real death, and was resurrected from that death…the grave couldn’t hold Him.  And He said we could too!

For You Today

What is the foundation of your faith?  Being born into a Christian family?  Having an uncle who was once a preacher?  Doing good stuff – being a good guy – not being a bad guy?  If it’s any of these, or anything other than the blood sacrifice that stained a cross on Golgotha, and the evidence of an empty tomb, you’ve got foundation issues.  I know a guy who can fix that!

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!  

[1] Title and Other Images:  Pixabay.com  Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation^©   

For another post on this text see The Last Enemy - April 22, 2014

 

Collapsed Foundations

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Monday, August 27, 2018

I trust in the Lord for protection.  So why do you say to me, “Fly like a bird to the mountains for safety!  The wicked are stringing their bows and fitting their arrows on the bowstrings.  They shoot from the shadows at those whose hearts are right.  The foundations of law and order have collapsed.  What can the righteous do?”  But the Lord is in his holy Temple; the Lord still rules from heaven.  He watches everyone closely, examining every person on earth.  The Lord examines both the righteous and the wicked.  He hates those who love violence.  He will rain down blazing coals and burning sulfur on the wicked, punishing them with scorching winds.  For the righteous Lord loves justice.  The virtuous will see his face.  Psalm 11:1-7^(NLT)

What, indeed, can the righteous do when the foundations of righteousness are collapsing all around them?  Our Psalmist, David, knew something about being honest, straightforward, and willing to die rather than betray trust, and despite all that seeing his whole world come unglued.  David had been a loyal servant, but King Saul hunted the boy like a dog, breathing out fire and death to destroy the one God had chosen to replace the king.  What can you do when the very person, country, or cause you have committed to support, defend, and, if necessary die for, becomes the enemy of itself?  What if the foundations of righteousness collapse, and, like the cartoon character, Pogo:  We have met the enemy, and he is us?

Of course, the recent political cauldron of intrigue, courts, he said-she said, malaise of high profile charges, convictions, and collusion investigations are an uncomfortable fit for any peace-loving average citizen.  Turn on either Fox news or CNN, and it won’t be three seconds before you hear about the president’s latest whine on Twitter, or the shots fired back across the White House bow by the opposition.  And the greatest loser here is truth.  It is a strange time to be alive.

So, to beg the question, what can a committed follower of Jesus Christ, who is also a citizen of a nation that demands responsive fidelity actually do when, no matter which way you look, the wheels are falling off the wagon on every side?

Perhaps David’s example is best here; he tried to do right and was rewarded by becoming public enemy #1.  He had to flee for his life, hide in caves, and just survive while the king chased him around the world.  But, even when presented with an opportunity to kill the king while he slept, David remained loyal, true to the faithful oath he’d sworn to serve God and his king.  The cost is incredible to live that way; but the cost of denying truth is so much greater.

John Wesley touched on that when his new movement in the 1740’s came under public attack by the very people he felt compelled to serve.  Methodism was seen as a tool of the devil.  Methodist preachers were beaten, sometimes killed as they attempted to spread spiritual holiness across America.  They meant to serve God, and, in the eyes of those who could not see that benevolence (and some who would not), they were the enemy.  Here is what Mr. Wesley advised those people called Methodist:

“Consider deeply with yourself, Is the God whom I serve able to deliver me?  I am not able to deliver myself out of these difficulties; much less am I able to bear them.  I know not how to give up my reputation, my friends, my substance, my liberty, my life.  Can God give me to rejoice in doing this and may I depend upon him that he will?  Are the hairs of my head all numbered; and does He never fail them that trust in him?”  Weigh this thoroughly; and if you can trust God with your all, then go on in the power of his might….Go on, I would earnestly advise you, Fourthly:  “Keep in the very path wherein you now tread.  Be true to your principles.”[2]

Now, isn’t that just like an Englishman?  Keep Calm and Carry On!

For You Today

Whether you subscribe to the Liberal News media, or the Conservative media, or watch both just to be informed (or confused), make no mistake that the Heavenly media, God’s Word, calls us to live above what the world does. 

It’s a tough day, and that means we have the same kinds of decisions Christians have always had in the face of darkness.  We can, to borrow a phrase from Ben Franklin, either complain about the darkness, or we can light a lamp where we are.

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day.

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[1] Title Image: Photo Courtesy of Pixabay.com

[2] John Wesley, Advice to a People Called Methodist, October 10, 1745