About the Rock...

Today at Hill City Church we finished our epic sermon series on the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5-7. We looked at Jesus' powerful illustration of the wise and foolish builders: the wise one builds on a solid rock foundation'; the foolish one builds on the sand. When the storm comes, the house on sand washes away, but the one on the rock stands firm. Jesus says this is a picture of those who obey His words, and those who ignore them. It's not going to be easy following Jesus, and sometimes building on the sand looks more attractive, but in the end only what's on the rock will last.

I was thinking this afternoon about how the Bible uses the image of a rock, and this led me to some interesting places...

First, the Bible mainly uses rock as an image to tell us who God is and what He is like. He is 'the Rock of Israel' (Gen 49, 2 Sam 23, Isa 30), 'the Rock... (whose) works are perfect, and all his ways are just' (Deut 32). Just as rocks are solid and steadfast, so God is absolutely dependable in all His ways. Everything else may fall apart around us, but we can trust in Him completely. We don't need to go anywhere else!

Rocks become a sign of memorial of God's salvation in Joshua 7, where the tribes each place a rock after crossing the Jordan river. They are a place of sacrifice in Judges 13 and 1 Sam 6, and a means of judgement in 2 Sam 18. So it isn't surprising that they foreshadow Jesus Christ.

When God appears to Moses in Ex 33, he has to stand on a rock. The Psalmist sings of how God 'lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand' (Ps 40). That firm place to stand is Jesus Christ! In the wilderness, God poured forth water from the rock at Horeb (Ex 17), a sign of His miraculous provision for His people. 1 Cor 10 tells us that that rock was Christ. He is the water of life of salvation and the means that it comes to us.

But rocks can be deadly, and Scripture warns us that if we don't come to Christ the Rock for salvation, we will have to face the consequences. Isaiah predicted that the Messiah would be 'a stone that causes people to stumble and a rock that makes them fall.' (Isa 8, see also ch26) Romans 9 and 1 Pet 2 both link this to the judgement of Christ upon those who will not accept Him. Similarly in Daniel 2, Daniel interprets Nebuchadnezzar's dream as foretelling the future. The king sees a rock cut out, but not by human hands. It strikes the statue and becomes a huge mountain and filled the whole earth. Christ's rule and His kingdom is unstoppable! If you're not in it, you have no future.

'On that day, when all the nations of the earth are gathered against her, I will make Jerusalem an immovable rock for all the nations. All who try to move it will injure themselves' (Zech 12)

The Bible gives us great hope that as Christians we are part of God's eternal kingdom. On earth we may suffer and go through tough times, but in the end, we have a certain salvation and we worship a King who cannot be conquered.

'Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock' (Mt 7:24)

Jesus is saying, obey Me! Build your life on what I say, because although this world is against you, it is passing away. My words will never pass away. (Mt 24:35) I want to live like that this week! And this month, this year...

'The LORD lives! Praise be to my Rock! Exalted be my God, the Rock, my Saviour!' (Ps 18)