Your Identity Shows the Quality of Your Foundation
This past Sunday we finished out our time in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7) as well as looking at the Resurrection narrative in Matthew 28:1-10. The truth of the Bible and the Gospel are hinged on this aspect, that not only did God Himself step into our brokenness in the Christmas narrative, but it is all meaningless without His sacrifice on the cross and victory over the grave. This is why Jesus taught “as one who had authority” (v7:29), because He is the Creator of all things, as well as the victorious redeemer as seen in the coming chapters of the Gospel narratives. That is why the Bottom Line from Sunday’s sermon was: “The resurrection sets Jesus as the immovable cornerstone.” If He is your foundation you’ll never be shaken. So let’s look at the 7:24-29:
24 “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 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. 26 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. 27 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.”
28 And when Jesus finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at his teaching, 29 for he was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes.
All over scripture, God is described with terms of immutability, steadfastness and power, among other things. Starting off in John 1:1-18 Jesus is also described with that type of language, as the “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it” John 1:5. In the end of Matthew 7 He refers to His words as the immovable rock that is a firm foundation, because if we want our faith to be immovable it has to be built on the one thing that cannot be moved. 1 Peter 1:24-25 says
“24 because
All flesh is as grass,
And all the glory of man as the flower of the grass.
The grass withers,
And its flower falls away,
25 But the word of the Lord endures forever.’
Now this is the word which by the gospel was preached to you.”
This “word” is Jesus, who perfectly fulfilled all the law and the prophets, and the Gospel, or Good News, is that through this fulfillment He defeated the curse of sin and death for all who would believe (Rom. 10:5-15).
But a common misconception with the parable at the end of the Sermon on the Mount, is that it’s not about mere belief, but about putting genuine belief into practice by hearing and doing what Jesus is preaching. Back up to the previous parables and you’ll see v21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.”
So think about what foundations under houses are like. Are they easy to see from the surface? Do they stand out when we think of curb appeal? Not really. The effects of a good or bad foundation take a keen eye to spot the issues, but as the parable goes, when under pressure, either immediate from a storm or over time as water comes and goes, a poor foundation will inevitably crumble. The firm foundation of “the one who does the will of my Father” (v21) is the one “who hears these words of mine and does them” (v24).
Remember, we know a tree by its fruit, so in the same way we can see the stability of a foundation for a house over time. Jesus’ comparison should make us uncomfortable due to the context of what’s already been said in chapters 5-7, because He’s pointing to true faith while putting religious actions on blast. John Stott had this to say on the contrast of genuine and false Christians, “Both read the Bible, go to church, listen to sermons and buy Christian literature. The reason you often cannot tell the difference between them is that the deep foundations of their lives are hidden from view.”
So take some time for some introspection on this topic as we finish out the Sermon on the Mount. Are you more concerned with the “curb appeal” of your life by living for the affirmation of others (remember the religious hypocrisy Jesus called out in chapter 6)? If so you likely are in peril by not paying attention to your foundation. To see the fruit of a healthy life rooted in Christ, and the stability of a firm foundation built on His word, we must find our identity in Him alone.
“For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.”