Reflections From the Psalms
If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do? (Ps. 11:3)
The foundation of Christianity, indeed, of our lives, is the Person of Jesus Christ. But not merely facts or doctrines about Him. As essential as those are, the foundation is the Living Christ who dwells IN US. Christ in us, the hope of glory, (Col. 1:27) is the essence of Christianity – indeed, Jesus Christ is supposed to BE our very life. (Col. 3:4)
When Peter confessed to Jesus, “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God,” it was a watershed moment in his life, and in the ministry of Christ. Jesus replied to Peter, “Flesh and blood has not revealed this unto you – and it is upon this ROCK that I will build My church.” (Matt. 16:15-18) Jesus Christ, and more specifically, the revelation of the Person of Christ IN HIS PEOPLE – would be the Rock, indeed, the foundation, upon which all else would be built. This would be the foundation for, yes, the Body of Christ, but at the core, Jesus would be the foundation upon which the life of the individual believer would be built.
If you examine the Body of Christ today, you will see many problems, divisions, heresies, and unbelief. But in one way or another, all of these have emerged from one cause: A blindness to the Person of Jesus Christ. An ignorance to, “Christ in us.” People talk much about Christ, and much about what He did for us, and much about the plan of salvation. All good. But most Christian people have no understanding of what it means for God to, “form Christ in them,” or for God to reveal Christ in us. Thus, the very foundation upon which Jesus said the church must be built is not there. No wonder everything else that has been built is in such confusion and error.
Paul, in Galatians, said that he TRAVAILED, “until Christ be formed in you.” (Gal. 4:19) The Greek word translated, “formed,” means, “an inward realization and expression.” Is this OUR travail? Paul, in Ephesians, said that he prayed, “that God would give you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Himself.” (Eph. 1:17) The sad fact is, millions of professing Christian know nothing of these things – if they are even discussed they are made to mean something less than God means. The foundation has been destroyed in the sense that Satan has blinded many to the Living Christ, and has offered in His place either a doctrinal Christ, or some form of Christian religion based on natural man.
The greatest need for the Body of Christ is that we be brought back to the PERSON of Jesus Christ – and realize what it means for Christ to dwell in us. There is no other foundation that can be laid except what is already laid, Jesus Christ. (see I Cor. 3:11) Except the Lord built the house the laborers toil in vain – and the Lord will NOT build His house, except upon the Rock.