Blog In Audio:
Greetings,
As leaders, we serve the body of Christ in becoming a dwelling place of God by His Spirit. The dwelling place of God is not a church building, a religious structure, or any form of ministry. The dwelling place of God is the Spirit of God dwelling in the hearts of sons and daughters of God, who are drawn together by the fellowship of Holy Spirit in the testimony of the Father’s love. Leaders are appointed to plant, to water, to build, and to serve in ways that empower the body of Christ to be built of and for eternal things.
1 Corinthians 3:11 For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, 13 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.
We are not called to build with materials that reflect our self-interests. We are called to build upon the eternal foundation of Christ with the attributes of eternal things. Straw is a material that can make a bed or meet a personal need for comfort in some way. As leaders, we cannot live for mere personal comfort, and we must challenge those we lead to live their lives beyond the meeting of their personal needs. Those who do not know God live for these things, and they are not fulfilling the true destiny of humanity in the likeness and image of God. I believe that things of hay are things of personal success. People in the world live their lives for some kind of success. That success could be a success of money, education, adventure, good works for human pride, and many other things that could be used to measure whether someone is successful or not. As leaders, we cannot live to merely produce some type of success in our lives. This includes some form of success in ministry. We must also challenge those we lead to live beyond the mere measure of success in life. I believe that wood is a human material with generational capabilities in some natural way. This could include a generational legacy of some human effort. It could include a business, a ministry, or any natural expression that carries beyond our lives on the earth. As leaders, we cannot merely lead for some measure of human legacy, and we must challenge those we lead to live beyond this measure as well.
God doesn’t merely want to meet our needs; He wants us to be people who are blessings to the world we live in. He doesn’t merely want us to be successful; He wants us to be significant. He wants us to give greater value to those beyond our lives. God doesn’t want us to live limited lives that focus on some human legacy; He wants us to live for the purpose of the Father’s glory. The materials of straw, hay, or wood all burn in the flames of true destiny.
God wants us to build with things of gold, silver, and precious stones. I believe these are eternal things. I believe the eternal things give us our identity, our testimony, and our purpose in life. What are the eternal things?
1 Corinthians 13:13 And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.
Gold is a testimony of our faith, and faith comes by hearing God in our hearts. Faith is like gold—it is tested by fire only to be proven genuine. We hear the One who loves us, and His voice inspires us to believe and even see what we could not before. As leaders, we lead people to be people of faith, to respond to the eternal voice of the One who loves them. This is the source of our true identity.
1 Peter 1:7 … that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
Silver speaks of things that are redemptive in purpose and inheritance. I believe that silver is a testimony of hope. We are part of the inheritance of God in Christ; this is the testimony of our lives, in this world and in all that is to come.
1 Peter 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, 5 who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
Precious stones are those things that testify to God’s eternal love. Each of us reveals a different facet of our Father’s love in our purpose. God’s purpose is not structure, ministry, or some great legacy in this world. God’s purpose is love, and each of us reveals our Father’s love to our world in unique and eternal ways.
Let us build upon the eternal foundation of Jesus Christ with faith, hope, and love. Of these, love will be the eternal glory that will be seen in heaven and on earth.
Food For Thought,
Ted J. Hanson
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