Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are His. And, let every one that nameth the Name of Christ depart from iniquity. 2 Timothy 2:19
Many years before I was born, even long before my father was born, the builders of a barn on the family farm used large rocks as the foundation for the barn. But as the years went by, the ground under those rocks shifted at one corner of the building. When I was a boy, that corner of the barn was actually starting to sag as the rocks slipped from their original position. As the years went by, and as that corner of the barn slumped out of place, it pulled the rest of the barn with it, twisting the huge rafters inside it, and making it difficult to open and close the barn doors. Everything about that barn was affected by the fact that its foundation was faulty. How thankful we are as Christians that our foundation does not rest on anything of ourselves, but on the very Creator and Sustainer of the universe. Built into that foundation is the eternal assurance that the Lord knoweth them that are His.
We know how crumbling are the foundations of this world. The old barn on the farm is long gone, along with other buildings that used to be there. An earthquake in Taiwan destroyed several buildings, leaving one multi-storey apartment building leaning at a precarious angle… its foundation obviously no longer safe. Families in a neighbourhood along the Bay of Fundy shoreline plead for government help to build a breakwater to stop the waves from eroding the land on which their homes are built. We know the importance of solid foundations, but we also know that no foundations here are going to last more than a few decades, or a few centuries. What the pickaxe can’t destroy, dynamite can. What a flood can’t wash out, frost can heave and crack. Given enough time, and enough exposure to the elements, all will eventually crumble and collapse. But those are the foundations of this world. There is a foundation that is not made of earthly dust and dirt, a foundation that is forever impervious to the ravages of time and elements, a foundation laid by the Almighty. This foundation undergirds all of the great promises of God, all the great work of His purposes, all the manifold blessings He dispenses, and all of God’s infinite knowledge and wisdom. Included in that knowledge is God’s awareness of all those who are His, everyone who has trusted in the work of His son, everyone who has believed on the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation.
On one of the stones that formed the foundation of our old barn was carved a date, the date that the barn was built. But upon the foundation of God, no date is carved, because eternity has no date. It ever was, and ever will be. But there is a seal in that great and sure foundation. Its declaration is this: the Lord knoweth them that are His. – Jim MacIntosh