The Foundation of God

The Foundation of God

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.”

            The foundation stone that is mentioned in the subject verse is our Lord Jesus Christ. Christ Jesus is the stone that the builders refused, “The stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner” (Psalms 118:22). The builders of the day of Christ were the religious leaders of that day, Pharisees, Scribes, Sadducees, the chief Priests, and such like. These refused to believe that Jesus of Nazareth was the Christ of God, and so plotted His murder for their gain; as it is said, their “place and nation” (John 11:48). These religious leaders refused to believe that Jesus is the Christ even though our Lord Jesus had done things that no other could do (as said Nicodemus John 3:2) as heal all manner of sicknesses, feed great multitudes with food which came from His divine creative power, raised the dead, walked on water, cast out devils out of men, cure leprosy; all those things were His credentials to prove that He was the Christ; but these wicked men refused to believe; which demonstrates the total depravity of the human heart. They would not believe the insuperable evidence that Christ Jesus put before them.

It was thus that the religious leaders of that day refused the foundation stone of Zion, and in refusing the corner stone of Zion they fulfilled the word and purpose of God. For it is written “Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know: Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and the foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain:” (Acts 2:22-23). Again it is written “For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together, for to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done” (Acts 4: 27-28). To the Jews of that day Christ was; and is to this day, to many “a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence” for, it is written “Wherefore 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 were appointed” (I Peter 2:6-8). These wicked men who rejected that Precious Corner Stone demonstrated that they “loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil” (John 3:19). Of this sort are they “who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ” (Jude 4).

Christ Jesus us is the Elect Precious Corner Stone upon which the church of God is built, and upon which it stands, and upon which it shall stand to all eternity. Very many are the difficulties through which Christ’s church has passed in this world; many temptations, afflictions, troubles and trials, “Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, the Lord knoweth them that are his. And let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity” (II Timothy 2:19). “The Lord knoweth them that are his” and those that are His, shall certainly know Him, for our Lord said “To him (that is Christ: writer’s parenthesis) the porter openeth; and the sheep hear his voice: and he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out. And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and they follow him: for they know his voice. And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers” (John 10:3-5). The sheep of Christ are His people “call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21); these particular individuals are His people because they were given to him of His Father “before the foundation of the world” (Ephesians 1:4; John 6:37; 17:2) they are Christ’s sheep because He has redeemed them by His shed blood “out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation:” (Revelation 5:9).

The sheep of Christ hear His voice because He prepares their ears to that hearing by quickening them: as He said “I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand” (John 10:28) Because Christ quickens the sheep, they have a spiritually living ear and therefore hear the voice of Christ. “The preparations of the heart in man, and the answer of the tongue, is of the Lord” (Proverbs 16:1). The people of God (Christ’s own sheep) know their Father because the Lord has said “And I will give them a heart to know me, that I am the Lord: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God: for they shall return unto me with their whole heart.” (Jeremiah 24:7). And again He said, “And I will give them one heart, and one way, that they may fear me forever, for the good of them, and of their children after them: And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from them, to do them good; but I will put my fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from me” (Jeremiah 32:39-40). And this is Christ; that Rock, for He said “And I say unto thee, “That thou art Peter, (a little stone built in the house of God, with many other living stones, {I Peter 2:5} upon the Rock Christ Jesus; writer’s parenthesis) and upon this rock I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it, (Matthew 16:18). “Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the wind blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: And the rain descended and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it” (Matthew 7:24-27). Reader who is your foundation stone, is your house built on the Rock Christ Jesus or on the sand of free will works religion?  See the writer’s blog at     www.hebrews915.blogspot.com            

A.J. Ison