About the year 1696, the first lighthouse structure was erected on the Eddystone rocks. (The Eddystone rocks are a group of rocks in the ocean, just off the coast of Cornwall, in southwest England.)
The builder boasted that he cared not how wild the storm might be; his building was able to withstand everything that might sweep against it. However, his boasting proved to be vain, for in the latter end of the year 1703, in as wild a storm as was ever known to have raged around England’s coasts, the lighthouse fell, and with it perished its builder. A second lighthouse stood about 40 years, and it was then destroyed by fire.
The builder of the third, wiser than his predecessors, hit upon a plan of strong firm building, which has ever since been greatly admired. The main feature of it is that the huge stones forming the building are dovetailed into each other, and at the foundation they are dovetailed into the solid rock. Thus the whole structure is firmly knit together, and likewise knit firmly to its foundation. This lighthouse (built in the 1750s) bravely withstood the wildest storms, and the fiercest waves of the ocean for more than 100 years. It was eventually replaced with a more modern structure in the 1870s, but not because it was in danger of falling. It is now preserved in the city of Plymouth, England, as a monument to the genius of the man who designed it.
The Foundation and the Superstructure
We see in the story of this building that there are two things necessary to a stable structure: There must be an immovable foundation, and the superstructure must be firmly fixed into that firm foundation. With the Christian’s standing, thank God, we find both things there!
God says (Isa. 28:1616Therefore thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste. (Isaiah 28:16) JND), “Behold, I lay for foundation in Zion a stone, a tried stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation,” and Peter in his first epistle (ch. 2) applies this word distinctly to Jesus Christ. This foundation can never be moved.
The same word also tells us, “He that believeth on Him shall not be confounded” (1 Peter 2:66Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner stone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded. (1 Peter 2:6)). All that Christ is — the chosen, the precious, the sure foundation — all is for the believer. Such as make lies their refuge and hide themselves under falsehood may fancy themselves secure, as did the man who built the first lighthouse upon those Eddystone rocks. But when God lays judgment to the line and righteousness to the plummet, “the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place” (Isa. 28:1717Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place. (Isaiah 28:17)). Happy is he who, through grace, is upon the sure foundation — Jesus Christ. He shall never be confounded.
Living Stones
God speaks of Himself as building on the foundation He has laid. Everyone put in the building has been put in by God. If you have believed, you are a stone in this wonderful building. And see how marvelously God builds! The “Living Stone” is the foundation, and every believer in Him is a living stone: Each one, even the feeblest and weakest, is partaker of His risen life and is bound indissolubly to the Lord, thus making one solid fabric. The Holy Spirit binds us inseparably to each other and unites us with the risen Christ. We are in Him risen, fixed in Him, and there is no possibility of even hell prevailing against the building.
Is not, then, the position of the believer a most blessed one? What if storms do come? Come they most assuredly will, and if trials and difficulties do thicken and multiply, we know that we are bonded into Christ, and He is the Rock that can never be moved.
J. R., Faithful Words for Young and Old (adapted)