As you know, this is a phrase often used in real estate to stress the importance of where a property is situated. It can be a great house, but if it is in the wrong place, it could significantly hurt the value, or even render it worthless. At the end of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus appeals to this concept.
You are familiar with this teaching, but let’s quickly recap it. Two different people built a house, one on the rock and one on the sand. Disastrous conditions came upon both structures and the house with the foundation tied into the rock stood, but the house built upon the sand was destroyed. Jesus tells us it is the one who has and applies his teachings that builds their house on the rock. Let’s break down this teaching.
Jesus is the rock. (Scripture often refers to him as that chief foundation stone, or cornerstone, and he is appealing to that concept here.)
What is the house? It is something the person builds. What is the purpose of the house? The purpose of the house is to protect the occupant from the elements. The person that built theirs on the rock, their house stood. It survived the disaster. It did its job. Jesus tells us that building your house on the rock is to build your hope and faith on the teachings of Christ. You build this house when you apply his teachings. You can trust that you are safe from eternal destruction if your hope is squarely in Christ.
What about the other guy? I had never given much thought to this before, but the other guy built a house too. What does that mean? Well, to carry on Jesus’ illustration, the other guy built a structure that he thought would protect him from destruction. He had hope in what he built to protect him.
The teaching isn’t that we should build, the teaching assumes that everyone builds to protect themselves from destruction. This teaching is about where we build. Location - Location – Location
People’s houses may all look different. In this secular culture we see houses built on atheism to hide from the concept of eternal destruction - Sand. We see people try their hardest to use wealth to control their future and security – Sand. Any worldly substitute for Christ is sand. However, the culture Jesus initially came through didn’t have many atheists. If you look at the previous teaching in Matthew 7:21-23, you will find there will be several religious people who do not go to heaven. When they find out, they ask, didn’t we do this religious thing or that religious thing? Meaning they thought they were ok because they were religious “Christians,” but Jesus makes clear they didn’t do what he taught and that he didn’t know them. In other words, they professed Christ, but they made religion their foundation – Sand. This is probably our biggest threat. Be sure that the house you have built, your hope, is built upon the rock (Jesus) and not the sand of empty religion. The storm will come upon us all.
From Your Fellow Servant,
Steven McFadden
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