God's New Foundation

At my church, we believe in corporate ministry.  This means that usually 2 or 3 members of the congregation are asked to give a 10 minute word each Sunday.  This is encourages us to study and also gives us a peak at what goes into ministry.  And let me tell you, it's no joke.  Anyway, this was my word from two weeks ago.  I enjoyed studying it out and it means a lot to me because well, I'm living it.

Title: God’s New Foundation

I want to talk about two things, the foundation that man attempts to lay in us and the foundation that God seeks to lay in us.  This is something God has been dealing with me about – the old foundation and the new one He is laying.

Opening scripture: Isaiah 28:16 –

Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner [stone], a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste.

Let us start with a definition of foundation:

Foundation – S.C. H3245 (Isa. 28:16) yasad (GK: 3569 & 3570). To lay a foundation, establish, ordain, to be founded; to associate, conspire [together]; appointed, instructed, laid, set, sure foundation.

God wants to establish you, ordain you, found you, associate with you, conspire together with you, appoint you, instruct you, be laid within you, set you (or stabilize you), and put a sure foundation in place.

Corner [stone] – S.C. 6438 (Isa. 28:16) pinna; corner (of a structure), cornerstone (as a crucial element); stronghold; by extension: leader – corner; chief, towers, bulwarks, stay

Peter later quoted this scripture:

1 Peter 2: 4 – 8 (KJV)

To whom coming, as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious, ye also as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.  Wherefore, also it is contained in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner stone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded.  Unto you therefore which believe he is precious: but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner, and a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence, even to them which stumble at the word being disobedient: whereunto also they are appointed.

In order for God to build His house (you), He must first be sure that you have a strong foundation for Him to build upon.

Referring back to Isaiah, Zion is the church or us.  The corner stone is Jesus – Isaiah was speaking prophetically to Israel regarding the coming Messiah.  Jesus is that which holds us together, the crucial element or stay.

Literally, Isaiah is saying the Lord is laying a new foundation for his people, [Jesus] who will establish, ordain, found, associate, conspire with us, appoint us, instruct us, be laid in us, settle us, and be that sure foundation.  He says that the people that believe [in Jesus], will not run from God.

Peter uses the same scripture in to encourage God’s people while traveling through lands that included Galatia after Jesus’ resurrection, then contrasts with the people of the world that rejected Jesus that the very stone that holds together those that believe in Him will become a stumbling block for those who do not believe.

In John 5:24, Jesus says: “ Truly, truly, I say to you,  he who hears my word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life” (NASB)

Passed in John 5:24 is the Greek word, metabaino which means to change base (or foundation) from death to life.

To make it practical, when we confess that Jesus is Lord, our old foundation crumbles and dies and we are born into life and the new foundation begins to be put in place. 

So how is this new foundation laid? 

In Luke 6:46 – 49 (KJV), Jesus asks:

And why call ye me, Lord, Lord and do not the things which I say?  Whosoever cometh to me, and heareth my sayings and doeth them, I will shew you to whom he is like:  he is like a man which built a house and digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock:  and when the flood  arose, the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it: for it was founded upon a rock.  But he that heareth, and doeth not, is like a man that without a foundation built a house upon the earth; against which the stream did beat vehemently, and immediately it fell; and the ruin of that house was great.

So, God laying his new foundation in you involves you doing three things:  coming to Him, hearing the word, and doing the word or walking it out.  If you do these things, you allow God to dig deep and build his house upon that rock, who is Jesus and when the storms come and the floods rise, you will STAND. 

In closing, Proverbs 8:32-35: “Now then, my sons, listen to me: blessed are those who keep my ways, Listen to my instruction and be wise; do not ignore it.  Blessed is the man who listens to me, watching daily at my doors, waiting at my doorway.  For whoever finds me finds life and receives favor from the Lord.”