THE FOUNDATION ROCK-STONE
BY KEVIN J. CONNER

In the building of a building, the first and most important thing is to lay a proper foundation, for upon this the whole structure stands or fall. The foundation is the beginning of the structure.

If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do? (Psalms 11:3). In the purchase of a house people generally look at the foundations first.

A. Importance of the Foundation

All depends on the foundation as to whether a building will stand the storms. Matthew 7:24-27. The two builders illustrate this. The wise builder laid the foundation upon a rock. The foolish built without a foundation. Luke 6:46-49; 14:29. The wise man laid the foundation upon a rock foundation. He counted the cost of building the house lest he be not able to finish it and people mock trim. Matthew 16:18, 19. Upon THIS ROCK l will build My Church, Jesus said.

B. Symbolic Foundations

In the Old Testament structures, originating with God, we see that each had a proper foundation Divinely laid.

Psalms 87:1. His foundation is in the holy mountains.

1. The Tabernacle of Moses was built, not on the sand, but upon the foundations of the silver sockets of redemption (Exodus 26: 19, 21, 25).

2. The Bethel House of God was founded upon the Rock/Pillar anointed with oil (Genesis 28:12-28).

3. The Tabernacle of David was pitched in the rocky fortress of Mt Zion (I Chronicles 17).

4. The Temple of Solomon was built upon the foundation in Mt Moriah, upon the typical sacrifice of an only begotten son, a threshing floor, and 3 days of judgment and the price of silver (11 Samuel 24:18-25; Genesis 22; I Chronicles 1-7; II Chronicles 3:1, 2).

5. The City of God, whose Builder and Maker is God, is a city with twelve foundations.

6. The New Testament also has proper foundations. Paul said “I laid the foundation” (I Corinthians 3:9-15). Paul did not try to build his Churches on another man’s foundation” (Romans 15:20).

7. The Great Pyramid has its solid foundation stones. If we take the Church as a pyramid, then we may apply (a) The Chief Cornerstone, and then (b) The Capstone to Christ Jesus (Isaiah 28:16; Ephesians 2:20, 22). Christ is the cornerstone, from which the whole building takes its alignment; it is the alignment of two walls. The stone of the corner is the foundation stone.

Then the head of the corner is the capstone, the final stone, the Headstone, the keystone, that locks all the structure together as one (I Peter 2:6).

Thus Christ is the First and the Last, the Beginning and the Ending, the Alpha and Omega, the Author and Finisher, the Cornerstone and the Capstone (Revelation 1:10; Hebrews 12:2; Romans 9:33).

C. Who or What is the Foundation?

I Corinthians 3:9-15. Paul clearly says “I laid the foundation . . . other foundation can no man lay than that is laid which is CHRIST . . .” All involved in His person is in this fact; all He is, all He said, all He did. The Church is NOT built on the personalities of the apostles or prophets, but on Christ Jesus, WHO He is, WHAT He has done, and ALL He said!

The theme of “The Rock/Stone” may be followed throughout Scripture. Sufficient for this chapter are some of the major references to this progressive revelation.

1. The Bethel Anointed Stone (Genesis 28: 12-22). The builders rejected it, but it became the Anointed Pillar and Rock.
2. The Deity of the Rock (Psalms 18:31, 46; 28:1; 62:7; 89:26).
3. The Rock that begets other rocks (Deuteronomy 32:4, 15, 18, 30, 31, 37).
4. The Anointing of the Rock (Genesis 28:12-22; I Corinthians 10:1-4; John 1:41, 42).
5. The Shepherd ministry of the Rock (Genesis 49:24).
6. The Crucifixion and Smiting of the Rock (Exodus 17; Psalms 118:22; Matthew 21:42-44; I Corinthians 10:1-4; Acts 4:11; I Peter 2:5-9). The Rock was rejected, despised, refused and smitten.
7. The Rock as a Stumbling stone (Romans 9:30-33; I Peter 2:1-9).
Jewry stumbled through unbelief and rejection of faith-righteousness.
8. The Rock that becomes the Foundation Stone in Zion (Isaiah 28: 16; Matthew 16:18, 19); or the Cornerstone, if a Pyramid (Ephesians 2:20-22; 11 Timothy 2:19).
9. The Rock of Offence to those who reject Him (Psalms 118:22; Acts 4:11; Luke 7:23; John 16:1; Galatians 5:11; I Peter 2:5-9).
10. The Rock that becomes the Smiting Stone (Daniel 2; Matthew 21:44-46). There is absolutely no mistaking the fact that THE ROCK, THE STONE, is Christ Jesus Himself! It is not Peter but the ONE WHOM PETER CONFESSED!

D. Who Lays the Foundation?

The foundation–Christ–Is laid by the apostles and prophets (Ephesians 2:20-22). The twelve apostles of the Lamb are in the foundation of the City of God. This speaks for the same fact (Revelation 21:14-19).

So Moses laid the foundation of the silver sockets for the Tabernacle, as the apostle of the Church in the Wilderness, with Aaron the prophet.

So David laid the foundation of the Tabernacle of David in rocky Mt Zion. So Solomon built upon the foundation laid by David in the Temple building in Mt Moriah.

The foundation doctrines of the apostles has already been laid (Acts 2:42), and all other ministries, apostles and prophets, will simply ‘lay’ that foundation!

E. The Foundation Principles (Hebrews 6:1, 2).

The wise man, according to Luke, laid the foundation on a Rock (Luke 6:48, 49). There is a twofold thought here; (a) The ROCK is the foundation, and (b) The foundation is also laid on that rock foundation.

So we may say that CHRIST is THE Foundation Rock, and THE FIRST PRINCIPLES of the Doctrine of Christ are “the foundation” laid on THE Foundation Christ. “Upon this rock I will build My Church”. Note how Christ spoke of ”this bread”, and “this Gospel”, and “this temple” to the people. People looked at the wrong thing so much, when He was speaking of Himself (John 2:18-22; 6:34, 51-57; Matthew 24:14; Matthew 16:18), after the Babylonian Captivity had ended. All point to Christ and His Church).

Christ is THE FOUNDATION Rock and Stone. The Church that is built upon His person and all involved in that will stand the tests of the coming storms. The false Church will have a great fall.

THE ABOVE MATERIAL WAS TAKEN FROM THE CHURCH IN THE NEW TESTAMENT, AND PUBLISHED BY BT PUBLISHING, 1982, PAGES 47-49. THIS MATERIAL IS COPYRIGHTED AND MAY BE USED FOR STUDY & RESEARCH PURPOSES ONLY.