All that God builds is stable and secure, being founded on immovable foundations, but the works of men, if not founded on what is divine, must surely be overthrown. When the Lord Jesus was on earth, He told His hearers how they could have a solid foundation on which to build their lives: those who heard His words and obeyed them were like the man who builded his house upon a rock, which could not be moved when tested by the storm; but those who heard and did not obey were like a man who built upon an earthly foundation, which the floods and storm brought to ruin. The foundations of the earth have been securely laid by God, and the earth will remain until it has fully served the purpose of God; and they are foundations that man, with all his great achievements, has not been able to uncover. God’s foundation of His holy city, and of the temple, were laid upon the foundation of sacrifices on the threshing floor of Araunah (2 Sam. 24:18–25); and all God’s eternal purposes are founded on Christ and His work upon the cross.
The Foundation of the World
The foundation of the world is a departure in the ways of God frequently referred to in Scripture. When the Lord Jesus spoke to the multitude in Matthew 13 His parables, the Spirit of God tells us His object in speaking in this manner. It was the fulfilment of the word of the prophet, “I will utter things which have been kept secret from the foundation of the world” (Matt. 13:35). Here were divine revelations for the disciples of the Lord, but spoken in such a way that the words that revealed God’s mind to His own, hid them from those who had not divine perception.
God’s blessing for the church belongs to His counsels before the world’s foundation, but earthly blessing for men is related to the world’s foundation. This is seen in Matthew 25:34, where the Lord, at His coming again, blesses those who had received His messengers, saying to them, “Come ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” Before sin entered into the world to defile God’s fair creation, God had His plans for the introduction of His earthly kingdom, and those blessed in it would enjoy the eternal life of which the Lord spoke (Matt. 25:46).
When the Roman empire is revived, and its leader shall lead its hosts against the Lord Jesus, those who do homage to “the beast” are not the elect of God, for such have not their names written “from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the slain Lamb” (Rev. 13:8). The beast will be destroyed by divine judgment, not before it has been the object of wonder of those “who dwell on the earth whose names are not written from the founding of the world in the book of life” (Rev. 17:8). Men without God, and without spiritual discernment, are readily influenced by the great of this world, and readily deceived by the revival of this great and mighty empire.
Long before sin came into the world, God had the means to deal with it, and to bring blessing to sinners. Of this the Apostle Peter tells us, “Ye were redeemed…with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you” (1 Peter 1:18–20). The whole plan of salvation and redemption was in God’s counsel long before the need arose. How this magnifies the love and wisdom of our God.
Not only had God plans to bring into the world His own Son to deal with the question of sin, but those who were to be blessed, through His work of redemption, were chosen “in Him before the foundation of the world” (Eph. 1:4); and the divine purpose was that “we should be holy and without blame before Him in love.” We were chosen in Christ to be like Christ, and with Christ, sharing His own place before the face of the Father, and to be holy in nature, blameless in character, like God Himself, and be before Him in love. How wonderful are the thoughts of God, and how rich His grace.
We shall be in the Father’s house because of His purposes before the world’s foundation, but it is also the desire of the Son to have us with Himself before the Father for ever, even as He spoke to the Father, saying, “Father, I will that they also, whom Thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which Thou hast given me; for Thou lovest me before the foundation of the world” (John 17:24). How very great is this privilege, to behold the glory of the eternal Son in the Father’s house.
A Sure Foundation
Israel’s moral condition was very low when Isaiah wrote, “Woe to the crown of pride, to the drunkards of Ephraim, whose glorious beauty is a fading flower” (Isa. 28:1). The time was fast approaching when they would be punished for their sins, and led into captivity. The rulers of Judah at Jerusalem were viewed by the prophet as “scornful men,” who vainly imagined they would escape the providential judgment of God. There would have been no hope for either Israel or Judah had not God His hidden resources in Christ, and this the prophet now discloses, saying, “Therefore thus says the Lord, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believes shall not make haste” (Isa. 28:14–16).
Without Christ, Israel must have been banished for ever from God on account of their rebellion, corruption and idolatry; but God had in Christ One who would bring blessing to all who believed in Him. The Apostle Peter quotes this Scripture, presenting Christ as the Living Stone, “chosen of God and precious,” the chief corner stone in the spiritual house from which spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God, are offered.
The Foundation of the Church
Christ is indeed the One upon whom the believer rests for divine blessing, but He is also the foundation upon which the church is built. The Father had revealed to Simon Peter who Jesus was as the Christ, the Son of the Living God, and Jesus added a further revelation for Simon, saying, “And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail it” (Matt. 16:16–18). Satan had often prevailed against Israel, but the Lord was about to bring into existence something of an entirely new character, and against this the powers of darkness would not prevail.
The assembly of which the Son of God spoke was yet future, but the foundation was revealed. Satan had already tried to overcome the Son of the living God by his temptations, and had failed, and his onslaughts at the cross would likewise fail, and the risen Son of God, the anointed of God, in resurrection would build this new structure that would take character from Himself. He was the living rock foundation, and they would be living stones, having His own life and nature, that against which the evil one could not prevail.
The assembly of which the Son of God spoke was yet future, but the foundation was revealed. Satan had already tried to overcome the Son of the living God by his temptations, and had failed, and his onslaughts at the cross would likewise fail, and the risen Son of God, the anointed of God, in resurrection would build this new structure that would take character from Himself. He was the living rock foundation, and they would be living stones, having His own life and nature, that against which the evil one could not prevail.
Paul was called of Christ to be the minister of the assembly and from his writings we learn more of the assembly spoken of that day to Peter. To Simon Peter was given a special place among the twelve Apostles, and the Lord entrusted him with the keys of the kingdom, to open the door to the Jews on the day of Pentecost, and to the Gentiles when he went, on divine instructions, to speak to Cornelius; but a special vessel was raised up, called, and prepared of the Lord for the ministry of the assembly, and that was Saul of Tarsus, who became the Apostle Paul.
Writing to the saints at Ephesus, Paul told these Gentile saints that they were “built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief corner stone,” and that this building was growing unto “an holy temple in the Lord“ (Eph. 2:20-21). Christ was the rock foundation, and also the chief corner Stone; but the New Testament apostles and prophets, given by the ascended Son of God (Eph. 4:11), both personally, and in their writings, formed the stone foundation that rested on the rock. All saints of God of this the Spirit’s day, who are indwelt by the Holy Spirit, have part in this structure that will be seen as a holy temple on its completion.
There is however another aspect of God’s building brought before us in 1 Corinthians 3, where Christ is the foundation, but where man’s responsibility is recognised. Paul had laid the foundation of the local assembly at Corinth, when he preached Christ to them, and when Christ had been accepted; and God will not recognise any gathering as an assembly of His that has not Christ as its foundation. Into that assembly different materials are built, some precious, some worthless, and some defiling; and God will reward the builders according to the character of the materials they are bringing into that which He owns as His.
It is a most solemn matter that some are defiling the temple of God, teaching all kinds of evil things that are contrary to the truth of Christianity. Such will come under the unsparing judgment of God. Others, who know the Lord, are teaching what brings nothing of real value to the saints, things of time and sense that will be destroyed. These will be saved from judgment, but will have nothing remaining for their labour. How good it is that there are builders who are building the imperishable things of God into His assembly. Such will be rewarded in the coming day.
The Foundation of God
In Paul’s day, teachers of evil things came to light. There were such as Hymenaeus and Philetus, who were teaching “that the resurrection is past already” and they overthrew the faith of some (2 Tim. 2:18-19). What took place then has manifoldly increased in these last days, for all around we see teachers of evil things in Christendom. As then, the faith of some is overthrown, but what is of God in the hearts of true believers cannot be overthrown, for, said the Apostle, “the foundation of God stands sure, having this seal, The Lord knows them that are His. And, Let every one that names the Name of the Lord depart from iniquity” (verse 19).
What rest of heart this gives to the true believer in the midst of all the breakdown and confusion of these last days, and Paul was writing specially for our guidance who live in the last days. God’s work in the hearts of His own cannot be overthrown, no matter what the enemy may do in seeking to corrupt His testimony. We may not be able to tell whether some individual is a true believer or not, but the Lord knows, and we have to leave this to Him. But we do know some who are His, their fruits show them to be His; and if they have departed from the iniquity that marks the “great house,” the great Christian profession, then we can seek to follow in the path of God’s will with them.
Foundations of God’s City
Of Abraham we read, “he looked for a city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God” (Heb. 11:10). The cities of the plain of Jordan, in which Lot dwelt, had not attraction for the separate saints of God, for he knew the unstable foundations on which they were built. They were founded on what man is away from God, and were built for the gratification of a nature that is corrupt. The glory of this world, displayed in man’s cities, and the attractions for his corrupt nature, had no appeal to Abraham as a saint of God. Abraham was content to wait for a city planned and built by God, an enduring city, in which the glory of God would be displayed, and where the divine nature would find eternal joy and satisfaction.
Soon the city that Abraham waited for will come into view, and God has already shown us the plan in the Scriptures. God’s city has a wall “great and high,” which ensures the exclusion of all evil and defilement. We read that “the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb” (Rev. 21:14). The twelve foundations speak of perfect administration, which there has never been in any earthly city; and the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb gives the answer to the promise of the Lord to the twelve in Matthew 19:28. There they are promised twelve thrones, here their names give character to the administration of the millennial day. These men were prepared to renounce all they had on earth to be associated with the rejected Son of God, now they are the suited vessels to carry out the divine administration in the day of His glory.
The jasper wall of the golden city had beauty in its foundations, and in perfect harmony with the precious materials of the city and the wall, for “the foundations of the wall of the city were garnished with all manner of precious stones” (Rev. 21:19). Like the breastplate of the high priest of Israel, the stones reflected the light of the divine glory in its varied hues, manifesting the moral perfections that marked the divine rule of that day. How very different from the foundations of the cities of men, cities such as Sodom, which were corrupt and vile.
Abraham will indeed find the city that he waited for, and he will behold the foundations that he found lacking in the cities of the Gentiles. The Lord was compelled to pronounce His woes over the cities of Galilee, and to weep over Jerusalem; and when the corrupt Babylon received its righteous judgment from God, “the cities of the nations fell” with it, sharing its doom. How blessed it is to contemplate the city with such beautified foundations, in contrast with the cities of men, cities which brought tears to the eyes of Jesus, woes from His holy lips, and judgment from Him, so that the way might be cleared for the city of God, the heavenly city, the holy Jerusalem, a city that has foundations.
R. 27.1.68