The words in Matthew 7:24–27 conclude with one of the greatest sermons ever preached. Jesus himself brings to conclusion the great Sermon on the Mount, and he does so with a moving story about two men who had two different foundations.
From the story it is clear that the two men shared the same vision of building a house for themselves. In the same way I believe all of us want to build a life, a family, a legacy to stand the test of time. The story of the two house builders raises the question of what kind of foundation we are building our lives on.
When Jesus asked His disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” it was not because He was trying to figure out what they thought. Jesus could already read the thoughts of people and did so on many occasions. Rather, I believe He wanted to see if His disciples truly understood who He was and what He wanted to accomplish in them and through them.
They told him, “Some say John the Baptist, some say Elijah, and others say Jeremiah or one of the other prophets” (Matthew 16:14). Then He asked, “But who do you say I am?” (verse 15). Once again impulsive Peter steps forward and answers. He said, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God” (verse 16). I believe Peter was starting to understand the bigger picture.
So Jesus told him, “You are blessed, Simon son of John, because my Father in heaven has revealed this to you. You did not learn this from any human being. Now I say to you that you are Peter (which means 'rock'), and upon this rock I will build my church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it” (verse 17-18).
Now contrary to what some churches and theologians teach I do not believe that Jesus was saying to Peter that He would build the church on Simon Peter. The word “Peter” comes from the Greek word that literally means a part of a rock or a stone. The phrase “upon this rock” contains a different word altogether, which means a massive rock.
In other words Jesus was building the church on what Peter said in verse 16. The church is built on Jesus Christ and nothing less. Paul makes this point very clear in 1 Corinthians 3:11 when he points out that, “No one can lay any foundation other than the one we already have – Jesus Christ”.
I hope your life is built on Jesus. If you have built your life on a church, that is the wrong foundation. If you have built your spiritual life on a person, that is a faulty foundation. Remember, anything built without the right foundation is merely a distraction from discovering what really matters. Build your life on Christ himself.
Food for thought:
The storms and trials we face in life have a way of revealing the foundation we stand on .The right foundation is built on a living dynamic relationship with Jesus. The right foundation is built by daily applying the truth of God to the realities of life.