Then God said, "Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear"; and it was so. And God called the dry land Earth, and the gathering together of the waters He called Seas. And God saw that it was good. Then God said, "Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb that yields seed, and the fruit tree that yields fruit according to its kind, whose seed is in itself, on the earth"; and it was so.And the earth brought forth grass, the herb that yields seed according to its kind, and the tree that yields fruit, whose seed is in itself according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. So the evening and the morning were the third day.
--Genesis 1:9-13
What can we learn from the creation of dry land? If you remember from one of our previous lessons, the Bible alluded to the importance of a solid foundation in Psalms 11:3. Did you know Jesus also talked about the importance of having a firm foundation?
Let's turn to Luke 6:46-49.
- According to these verses, what happened to the house of the man who built his house upon a foundation of rock when the flood came?
- Answer: The house withstood the flood.
- According to these verses, what happened to the house of the man who built it on the earth without a foundation when the flood came?
- Answer: It fell and its ruin was great.
Jesus affirmed that we need a firm foundation in our lives. So what is the rock we should build upon?
Let's turn to Deuteronomy 32:2-3; 2 Samuel 22:47; Psalms 18:31; Psalms 62:7; and Isaiah 44:8.
- According to these verses, who is the Rock?
- Answer: God
Let's turn to 1 Corinthians 4:10.
- According to this verse, who was the Rock?
- Answer: Christ
Jesus is telling us that we need to build our lives with Him as our foundation. In fact, early Christian church grew and spread throughout the world because the apostles had put Jesus as the cornerstone of their faith and message (Matthew 16:18; 1 Peter 2:6; Luke 20:17-19). So what does it mean to have Jesus as the foundation in our lives?
Let's turn back to Luke 6:46-49.
- According to these verses, if you call Jesus Lord, what does He expect you to do?
- Answer: He expects you to do the things which He says.
- According to these verses, who did Jesus liken to the man who built his house on the foundation of rock?
- Answer: Whoever hears His sayings and does them.
- According to these verses, who did Jesus liken to the man who built his house on the earth without a foundation?
- Answer: Whoever hears His sayings and does nothing.
When you build a house, you need a good solid foundation, but you do not simply stop there. You then put up a frame, then exterior siding, then the roofing, etc. In the same way, we cannot merely hear Jesus' teachings then move on with our own lives. We need to apply His words to our own lives. So how do we know that we are applying Jesus' teachings and sayings in our own lives?
Let's turn to Matthew 12:33-35.
- According to these verses, what kind of fruit does a good tree bring forth?
- Answer: Good fruit
- According to these verses, what kind of fruit does a bad tree bring forth?
- Answer: Bad fruit
If we are to bear good fruit for Jesus, what kind of fruit would that be?
Let's turn to Galatians 5:22-25.
- According to these verses, what is the fruit of the spirit?
- Answer: The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
- According to these verses, what should we do if we live in the spirit?
- Answer: We walk in the spirit.
Let's turn to John 15:1-8.
- According to these verses, how can we bear much fruit?
- Answer: We can bear much fruit if we abide in Jesus.
Let's turn to Mark 4:1-20.
- According to these verses, how much fruit was born by those who accepted the word of God?
- Answer: Some thirtyfold, some, sixtyfold, and some a hundredfold.
Let’s close the lesson with James 5:7-8.
- According to these verses, what are we to establish before the coming of the Lord?
- Answer: We are to establish our hearts.
Jesus wants us to grow in Him. As the true vine (John 15:1), Jesus can give us life more abundantly (John 10:10) if we would only abide in Him (John 15:4-5). When we establish our hearts, we are drawing closer to Him. We do not do this as a matter of works, but the more we surrender our lives to Christ, the better we can endure the trials and tribulations in this life.
As we grow in Christ, not only will we develop a more Christ-like character, we can sow seeds around us and bear much fruit worthy of Him. Will you make Jesus the foundation of your life?
