Alba 3-9-2025
GOD'S BUILDING
I Corinthians 3:9-15
Alba Christian Church began when a church building was constructed in one day. It was on Memorial Day, May 31, 1911, that more than 100 people came together, did their work, and were able to hold a dedication service in the new building at 5:30 that evening. It was an amazing project.
The church building we are in now was constructed about 35 years ago. These are the blueprints for our church building, and they provided direction for the folks who built this structure. It is good to keep in mind, though, that these are plans for a building, not a church. The wood, cement, pipes, wires, and carpet that have been put together at this location are really not Alba Christian Church. Those materials make up a building, but the church is made up of people, believers in Jesus Christ.
I Corinthians 3:9 tells us that WE are God's building. God's Word is the code book that gives us good directions as to the best way to build our lives. Thankfully we have ready access to it. Because one day, the Chief Inspector will check out our building, and we will be glad if we have the right foundation and have built on it as directed. If you have ever been involved doing any construction, you know that there are many building codes that must be followed. At various phases of construction inspectors arrive to insure that everything is up to code.
Some buildings have had serious trouble because builders try to just meet code or fool the inspectors. Because of this, those buildings have had to have expensive repair work done after they were inspected and supposedly passed code. It is best to do it the right way from the beginning. Scripture pictures for us what God's building looks like.
1. God's Building Has a Firm Foundation
Jesus Christ is the firm foundation on which we stand. In a world filled with shifting sands, uncertainties, and trials, we are called to stand on the unshakeable, immovable foundation that is Jesus Christ. No human effort, philosophy, or institution can replace the foundation that God Himself has given in Jesus, and continues to be put in place by wise builders.
In I Corinthians 3:10-11 Paul says this: “According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation, and another builds on it. But let each one take heed how he builds on it. For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ” (the same words we read together earlier).
Isaiah 28:16 says, “Therefore thus says the Lord God: 'Behold, I lay in Zion a stone for a foundation, A tried stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation.'” Here, the prophet Isaiah points us to Jesus as the cornerstone, the first and most important stone in a building's foundation. In ancient architecture, the cornerstone determined the stability and alignment of the entire structure. In Christ, we find both our security and direction. When we build our lives on Jesus, we are building on something eternal, tested, and true. In contrast, building on the foundations of worldly success, relationships, or personal achievements is like building on shifting sands.
Charles Spurgeon once said, "To trust in yourself is to build on quicksand, but to trust in Jesus is to build on a rock." He took that from what Jesus Himself said in the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus said in Matthew 7:24-27 “Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock.
“But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.”
In this well-known parable, Jesus contrasts the wise builder who builds on solid rock with the foolish builder who builds on sand. The storms represent life’s challenges and trials, which will inevitably come. The question is not whether the storms will come but whether our foundation will hold. The most important question is: On what are you building the hope of your life? The god of this world would have you build it on sand.
But David in Psalm 18:2 said,“The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; My God, my strength, in whom I will trust; My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.” The New Living Translation has that verse: “The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my savior; my God is my rock, in whom I find protection. He is my shield, the power that saves me, and my place of safety.”
Not just any foundation will do. We need to be sure that Jesus Christ is our foundation. Whether we are thinking about a church or our individual lives, He is to be the foundation on which we are to build. Consider a skyscraper. Before it can rise to great heights, engineers spend months, sometimes years, ensuring that the foundation is solid and deep enough to support the structure. In the same way, if we desire lives that honor God and stand firm through trials, we must be deeply rooted in Christ.
What does it mean for a church to have Jesus Christ as its foundation? The church must believe and teach the truth about Jesus. The Scriptures have revealed the Lord Jesus Christ as fully God and fully man, born of a virgin, perfect in His obedience to His Father, offering the one, perfect and sufficient sacrifice for the sins of all mankind on the cross, raised from the dead and exalted in glory in heaven from where He will return one day to be the judge of all the earth. Any deviation from that is to rewrite the gospel, and it becomes a false gospel: “For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ.”
But once the foundation is in place...
2. God's Building Must be Built With the Best Materials
It is vitally important that we build upon our relationship to Jesus Christ. If one lays a good foundation, he must also build wisely. Imagine someone spending $40,000 or more to ensure that he had a good foundation, then used cardboard, scrap wood and tin to build the rest of the house. We would think him crazy and rightly so. The same goes for our spiritual building. Even though God is the One who is building His church, He gives us the opportunity to share in that task.
The apostle Paul writes in I Corinthians 3:12-13 and says, “Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each one’s work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is.” What a contrast of materials! Some are strikingly beautiful, others quite drab. Some are valuable and others of little worth. Some are rock-solid; others are flimsy. Some are permanent; others are temporary and won’t last. What is meant by these two categories of materials?
Over the years people have tried to figure out what each of these building materials symbolized, but I don't think that was Paul's intent. Of the six things he mentions (gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay and straw) each has a number of different qualities. Yet the key, according to Paul, is how each survives fire. And we'll get to that in a moment.
I am sure that you know the story of The Three Little Pigs. I don’t know if the one who originally made up that story ever read First Corinthians chapter three, but both have the same theme: when you build, build out of material that lasts.
You can see the parallel with the Three Little Pigs story. They all choose different building materials to build their houses. The wolf blows down the houses made of straw and sticks, but not the brick house. When the big bad wolf came, the quality of the building materials was seen. Only the house with the best materials survived.
Paul's emphasis is on choosing to build with good materials, with stuff that will last. So we need to build the church and our lives with things of eternal value, rather than merely temporal, worldly value. The kind of building blocks with which we choose to build our lives will determine how well we will withstand when the Big Bad Wolf, that roaring lion Satan, blows life’s tests at us.
The list of faulty building blocks that Satan offers is almost limitless. How are you doing in building and reinforcing your spiritual house? Think of your life as laying a block each day. Here again the apostle Paul urges his readers to “take heed”, “be careful” (vs, 10). You can get a clue if you are building with the right materials by checking your life to see if you have the fruits of the Spirit listed in Galatians chapter five. Or if you are instead manifesting the works of the flesh also listed there. A good builder will be using good materials.
II Timothy 2:15 says, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth” (NIV). All three of the little pig’s houses looked good until they were tested. Though we may be able to look good to others for a while, even with the wrong building materials built into our lives, the true stuff out of which we are made will eventually show through. How will you fare when your life is tested?
Because...
3. Fire Will Test the Work We Do on God's Building
I Corinthians 3:13-15 says, “Each one’s work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is. If anyone’s work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward. If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.”
The phrase, “It will be revealed with fire”(13) speaks of the test that will be applied to every Christian's life’s work. It iccvs here we see the significance of the two kinds of building materials. What happens to “wood, hay or straw” in a fire? When it’s all over, there’s nothing left but ashes! What about “the gold, silver and precious stones”? The impurities in them will be burned away, their form will be changed and improved. Then we’ll all know what mattered and what didn’t, what had abiding value and what was there only for show.
Most people who are employed will have experienced an appraisal by their employer, perhaps annually. In business or professional life, an appraisal is a private matter between the manager and the subordinate. But I have to tell you that the result of the final test of the materials used for building in our Christian experience will be public knowledge. That’s a sobering thought!
If you are a sloppy builder on Christ's foundation, you will suffer loss. When the fire is applied, if anything at all remains, you will receive a reward for that work. If your works are burned, and the word in Greek means to be utterly burned, all you have done will be gone up in smoke.
Verse 15 explains that although your works may not stand up to the fire, if you have truly accepted Jesus Christ, you will still be welcomed into heaven, but your rewards will be lost. You will be literally like one snatched out of the flames and carried to safety by a fireman. You will be saved as though you walked through the fire to get to safety. But wouldn’t you rather enter heaven hearing the approving words of the Savior, “Well done, good and faithful servant”? Even giving a cup of cold water to a thirsty human being, if it is done as a disciple of Jesus, that work will be rewarded. When we do good to draw attention to ourselves, there is no heavenly reward. When we do good because of our love for Jesus, heaven takes notice. I don’t know the exact nature of heavenly rewards, but I know they will be given to those who obey the Lord, doing good in His name and in the right spirit.
So what are we to do? Will we be wise and lay up treasures in heaven? We know that the treasures on earth will eventually be destroyed. So we best use the blueprint of our Bibles to build on the foundation laid by the apostles and prophets, as it says in Ephesians 2:20, remembering that Jesus Christ Himself is the chief cornerstone.
Then we will be built on the solid foundation of Jesus Christ.
Then, as I Peter 2:5 says, we will be “living stones... being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”
Then we will truly be “God's building”.
CLOSE:
In 1889, Paris, France hosted a World's Exposition (World's Fair) which also commemorated the hundredth anniversary of the French Revolution. The Eiffel Tower was built for that event. The tower stands 984 feet high. At one time it was the tallest building in the world. The construction of a metal structure as tall as the Eiffel Tower required substantial work to ensure it had foundations able to withstand anything. More than 130 years later, the innovations of Gustave Eiffel’s company have proven their worth!
The foundations (which extend to a depth of 22.3 feet below ground) were built in 1887 in just four months. For the east and south sides, two piles were built on a 6.6-foot-deep concrete footing, itself resting on a layer of compact gravel. Things were more complicated on the other two sides because the foundations needed to go below the Seine riverbed, which passes right next to the Tower. So they went deeper to a depth of 72 feet to support the concrete slabs, which were 20 feet thick. Thanks to those foundations, they support a tower of 8,047 tons of iron, held together with two and half million rivets.
Over time, the Eiffel Tower has withstood plenty of adverse weather conditions, including floods - such as the major one in 1910, and storms. And not once has its structural integrity and foundation been cause for concern!
If the Eiffel Tower had such great care in its construction, should we not be sure that the foundation of our faith is strong and secure? Only Jesus provides the assurance, that whatever we may face, we will be safe for eternity. And let us determine that what we build on that foundation be worthy of the name of Jesus.
