One of the favorite bits of wisdom that my late father used to share with me when I was young was that, regarding school, "its just like a house...first you pour a good foundation...that's what grade school is like Greg...that's why it is necessary to try to do well now!," he would say. Dad was a construction worker most of his life. Master plumber to be exact (and a darn good one to :) He was using Jesus technique of teaching truth by common analogy--taking his life and what I knew of it, and giving me encouragement on the purpose of early education through a picture of a house being built.
Having grown up, I have lost Dad's immediate presence for now but tonight I am thinking about his lesson in the context of what the Bible says about construction work. Actually, there is more than you might think...which is also interesting to me, since I am a plumber and construction worker too.
One of the first incidences of construction work in the Bible the building of the Ark by Noah (Gen. 6-9). A construction project was the assignment for Noah, the object of God's command to obedience for him. He had to build a boat to survive the Flood! Interesting that construction work is given a positive spin here in the Bible! This is a story of salvation. Just a few chapters earlier, we find another story about construction: "Cain...he built a city, he called the name of the city after his son, Enoch." (Gen. 4:17). This story shows construction work in a negative light, as the civilization of Cain's family would be completely destroyed, despite their technical competence, because they ignored the Lord God. So one way in which construction work is used in the Bible is its use as a picture of faith or unbelief. Depends on what one is building...it is no wonder that Jesus used two men building houses to picture a life of faith in Him and a life without such faith (Matt. 7).
Another way construction work is addressed in the Bible is regarding its use in sanctification (making God's people like Him through the course of life--not the same as "salvation" in the sense of forgiveness of sin). Exodus 35-40 give a detailed record of the contributions for, the builders of, and the blueprint of God's place of worship given to Moses for the Hebrew people. The purpose of the tabernacle, God's place of worship, was that the people might have a divinely appointed means of expressing their love for Him and service to Him. Many commentators have noted that the tabernacle of Moses was a picture of Christ: after all, Jesus transferred the meaning (in a sense), to Himself, when he said "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." (John 2:19), and this means that Christ, like the temple, is the appointed way, truth, and life, through which we relate to God, and through which we grow in Him. Paul puts it this way: "no one can lay any other foundation, than that which is already laid, which is Jesus Christ.." (I Cor. 3:11).
So there's at least two pictures: I'll give a third and rest. This picture is the way the Bible pictures the church of Jesus...it is a construction project...and Jesus is the project manager, the contractor, the mechanic, and the laborer that builds us into a body of people that love each other in their common salvation in Christ. Paul says "You are...God's building" (I Cor. 3:9), and also says in Ephesians: "...you are fellow citizens with saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit." (Eph. 2: 20-22). What about that? The body of Christ's members have been saved individually by building on Him--they continue individually in their spiritual walk by building on the foundation of Christ in sanctification (growth in holiness), and they are built together, by the Lord, through His appointed means, into a holy temple in which they are living stones that cry out "Hosanna...blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!" (Matt. 21:9), and in whom, through the Spirit, Christ dwells, builds, and fashions!
Well, that is all for now. Construction work is given a prominent place in the metaphorical usage of the Bible to demonstrate spiritual truth. Thank God for using my lowly occupation (or if you must, the broader category my occupation is part of) in order to teach eternal truth. Thanks even more to my Father for giving me a sure foundation on which I can stand and have been standing at least since age 21. Like the words of the hymn:
"How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord, is held for your faith in His excellent Word; what more can He say, than to you He hath said, to you who to Jesus for refuge have fled."
God bless
Greg
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