My father was a builder. When I was younger, I used to help him after school on his various job sites. We would lay out the site, dig the foundations, lift frames, nail floors, and other stuff.
It taught me some things about the process of building, and the process applies almost universally to anything that is being constructed.
It also applies to constructing the House of God. I’m not talking about the physical house, but the spiritual house of God into which all believers are being built.
Like the construction of a house, building God’s house follows similar processes, which, when we learn them, can help us to grow strong in Christ.
A plan
Like any building, you must start with a plan. God wrote our plan and He developed all the tools we would need so that we could be “well-built.”
Without a plan, the building process would be chaos, and God is NOT a god of chaos! Everything He does is orderly, defined, and decided long before the building commences.
Jesus the cornerstone
In God’s plan, He made Jesus to be the cornerstone of our salvation. Our faith rests on believing in God and what He has done in Jesus Christ. As the scripture says:
“11 This is the stone which was rejected by you builders, but which has become the head of the corner. 12 And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” (Acts chapter 4, verses 11-12)
When building a house, it is always set out from a corner and the first brick is laid at the same corner. All house measurements are taken from this corner and if the cornerstone is incorrectly positioned, it affects the whole building. If that first brick is wrong, all the rest will be wrong too.
That is why Jesus is the cornerstone of our faith and our salvation.
Jesus the foundation
Then we have the foundation of the house. The foundation must be strong. A builder digs deep to lay the foundation on bedrock, so that the house will not fall in adverse weather. The scripture says:
“10 According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and another man is building upon it. Let each man take care how he builds upon it. 11 For no other foundation can any one lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.” (1 Corinthians chapter 3, verses 10-11)
Jesus is the Rock and the foundation upon which the spiritual house of God is built. As Paul says, there can be no other foundation other than Jesus Christ.
But Paul also says that like a master builder he laid a foundation. Paul was an apostle, preacher, and teacher, so what was that foundation?
The foundation teachings
The writer of Hebrews gives us the answer. He defines six specific teachings that make up the foundational concepts that every Christian needs to understand if they are to be strong enough to withstand the storms of life.
“Wherefore leaving the doctrine of the first principles of Christ, let us press on unto perfection; not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God, of the teaching of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgement.” (Hebrews chapter 6, verses 1-2 ASV)
These six foundation teachings form the pillars upon which the house of God is built. Sadly, there are many in the church today that have little understanding of these foundations, and there is too much to cover in a single article here.
However, if you would like to learn more, I have a free eBook that will explain it in much greater detail. (https://freegiftfromgod.com/ebook-the-six-foundations-of-christianity/)
Which brings us to the final parts of the construction: floor, walls, roof, and so on.
Constructing the house of God
Many spiritual houses can and have been built upon the foundations of Christianity. Some are very good and others…well…not so much.
Paul describes them like this:
Now if any one builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw-- each man's work will become manifest; for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. (1 Corinthians chapter 3, verses 12-13)
The building will be tested by fire. The fires of adversity, trouble, and persecution will test the quality of the building.
Half will be burned up based on Paul’s assessment. But gold and silver are purified by fire to remove imperfections and dross.
So study these things to build your house and aim for the house of spiritual gold. Now is the time!
Since retiring from work, John Lemmon now spends his time teaching, preaching and writing about the word of God, online and offline, answering God's call on him to “Speak to my people.” You can connect with John on Twitter (@JohnBLemmon) or on his website: freegiftfromgod.com/ or listen to his podcast on iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/au/podcast/the-free-gift-from-god-podcast/id1440682375
