Biblical Significance of Christ's Bodily Resurrection

Driving home: It's like making a man itch and then refusing to scratch it. but rather knowing that the teaching of the Bible is very clear that the resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth from the dead is a foundational tenet of the Christi…

Martin uses the analogy of making a man itch and then refusing to scratch it to describe the disappointment of raising vexing questions without answering them, contrasting it with his intention to preach on a clear biblical truth.

much to the disappointment, I'm sure, of some of you having raised them. It's like making a man itch and then refusing to scratch it. but rather knowing that the teaching of the Bible is very clear that the resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth from the dead is a foundational tenet of the Christian faith. I want to preach to you topically this morning on this subject, the biblical significance of the bodily resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.

2:24 - 2:58 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: The first broad stroke of significance is for Christ Himself. The resurrection is presented as the climactic validation of all His personal claims, such as being God's unique Son…

Martin compares Nazareth's checkered reputation to a crime-ridden section of a city (the 'sixth ward') to emphasize the humble origins of Jesus, who nonetheless made astounding claims.

And the Lord did not say, oh, I'm sorry, I overstated the case. you misunderstood me. No, he goes on to demonstrate from the scriptures that his claim was justified. Furthermore, he not only claimed to be God's unique son, God the son, but he claimed to be the appointed judge of the world. Think of it. A humble son of a carpenter's shop coming out of a town with a checkered reputation. Can any good thing come out of Nazareth? Can any good thing come out of the sixth ward? Any good thing come out of, and you think of the section in some of our teeming cities that are known for crime and drug de...

13:37 - 14:25 Read in full sermon

Driving home: He did not cease to be what he had always been. But he began to be what he had never been. He takes to himself a true human soul and body.

Martin uses the analogy of a beautiful, large diamond buried in a mud ball to illustrate Christ's state of humiliation. The diamond (Christ's essential deity) loses none of its inherent worth or beauty, but its glory is obscured by the mud (His true humanity and suffering), making it unrecognizable to observers.

and trying to illustrate that I thought in the early hours of this morning suppose we had in our possession or within sight the most beautiful well cut largest diamond in the world I don't know how many carats that would be something even larger than the hope diamond and it were contained in a beautiful clear plexiglass case set against dark velvet with professional gemologists training lights upon it to show the depth of its fire and the beauty and the purity of that gem. Think of that large diamond, sparkling. Every time you move an inch here, an inch there, you catch another facet of its gl...

28:32 - 29:18 Read in full sermon

The point: Go to Joseph's empty tomb when struggling with indwelling sin, perplexities, disappointments, or the fear of death, to find assurance of an indefectible salvation.

Martin shares his personal fear of the act of dying, even though he is not afraid of the consequences of death, to connect with the audience's anxieties about mortality and highlight the comfort of the resurrection.

When you're struggling with your indwelling sin, with perplexities, with disappointments, with griefs that you feel are going to crush you, and you say, oh God, if these things in life so unstring me and unhinge me, what will it be when I come to that cold, dark, inescapable river of death? Do you bring near your death day? death is a frightening thing to me I've never had the experience I don't like going to the dentist but not too scared because I've been there a lot of times I know what to expect you've never died the thought of my spirit being wrenched from my body when all I've known

50:52 - 51:38 Read in full sermon

Driving home: I must I must come forth or God will have to stuff his son back in that tomb and he's not going to do it to me and He's not going to leave you there.

Martin recounts standing at his father's gravesite and experiencing a 'baptism of such joy' at the thought of the resurrection, illustrating the profound comfort and hope the resurrection brings to believers.

And bless God, he took us with him out of the tomb. He was first fruits of all who sleep. and I shall never forget standing by the gravesite of my dear father and as they were about to lower him into that hole in the earth a baptism of such joy came over my spirit as I thought of the words the dead in Christ shall rise first and why is there a shall rise? because there's an empty tomb somewhere in Jerusalem.

53:29 - 54:08 Read in full sermon