Foundations

Foundations are important. Skyscrapers would crumble without a good foundation. Bridges would collapse. Houses would shift. The most stable foundations must be built upon the bedrock, in some cases, requiring significant excavation.

A typical house might weight about 70 tons, and so the blocks that hold the house must be able to withstand the heavy weight, and the blocks also must be put together on a surface in such a way that the house will not sink or move.

In New York City, the Brooklyn Bridge pilings are 44 feet on the Brooklyn side and 78 feet on the Manhattan side. These deep pilings reach to the bedrock and are necessary for the integrity of the bridge.

The Empire State Building weighs over 350,000 tons and is over 1,400 feet tall. For a structure that large, it’s foundation is vital to it’s existence! Below the surface of the ground, there is 55 feet of foundation that keeps the building in place. That’s like the height of a five story building below the ground.

Jesus told us how important foundations are when he spoke of two men who built houses: one built on a solid rock and the other built on the sand. One house fell when the storms came, but the other one stood strong (Matthew 7:24-27).

Psalm 11:3 asks a thought provoking rhetorical question: ‘if the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?’

The whole Bible stands on the foundation of its first book, Genesis. The Book of Beginnings is the bedrock on which the rest of the Bible stands. Many people have tried to undermine what God has said in the book of Genesis, saying things like: “it’s such an old book”, “it’s full of fairy tales”, “there’s no way that everything was created in six days” or “Adam was just a figurative person”.  But when people characterize Genesis in this manner, what they are really doing is attempting to destroy the foundation of God’s Word. If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do? If a house sits on a foundation that isn’t built correctly, the walls will start to crack and the house may even shift from it’s base. A bridge that doesn’t have the pilings set upon solid bedrock will not be safe to drive on. If the foundation of the Empire State Building is compromised in any way, the integrity of the structure will be in question. The building may indeed collapse.    

A proper understanding of Genesis is necessary for a proper interpretation and understanding of the rest of scripture. If we question the foundational book of the Bible, then most assuredly we would not be on sure footing in our faith. Without Genesis, the meaning of life is unclear. Without Genesis, there is no explanation for the rottenness and evil that we see in our world. Without Genesis, there would be no basis of the hope that belief is credited to us as righteousness. Genesis is critical to our understanding of who God is and who we are as His created beings. It is worthy of our careful attention and study.

Order and Purpose
A Day of Rest
Made In the Image of God
He Made Them Male and Female
The Rib
The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil
The Serpent
Adam in the New Testament
Cain and Abel
The Importance of a Name
Walking With God
Only Evil Continually
The Life of Noah
The Table of Nations
The Life of Abraham
The Life of Isaac
The Life of Jacob
The Life of Joseph