Christ The Chief Cornerstone

Driving home: Whether there's an actual person, Jesus of Nazareth, who is anointed of God to be the Christ of Old Testament prophecy is irrelevant. It's the idea we must preserve.

Martin quotes Pearl Buck, a Presbyterian missionary, who argued that the 'Jesus idea' was spiritually invigorating regardless of whether an actual historical Jesus existed. This illustrates the error of reducing Christ to a mere concept.

Now, the church has continually been plagued in recent generations with the foolish idea that whether there actually existed a personage, Jesus of Nazareth, who actually kicked up dust in his backyard as a little kid when he played with his brothers and sisters, who actually did what the scriptures say Jesus of Nazareth did, namely opening the eyes of the blind, raising the dead. They say now it's totally irrelevant as to whether or not an actual person actually existed in space and time. The important thing is that the Jesus idea that came out of the early religious community was so ennobling...

9:15 - 10:35 Read in full sermon

Driving home: Whether there's an actual person, Jesus of Nazareth, who is anointed of God to be the Christ of Old Testament prophecy is irrelevant. It's the idea we must preserve.

The analogy of 'President Ford' is used to explain that 'Christ' refers to Jesus' official position as the anointed Messiah, just as 'President' refers to Gerald Ford's official position.

When we say President Ford, President refers to the official position of a man named Gerald Ford. And when Paul said Christ Jesus himself, the chief cornerstone, he's referring to that unique position of Jesus of Nazareth who was the anointed Messiah, the fulfillment of every Old Testament, prophecy and type and shadow, God's only prophet, priest and king, and he is to be identified as Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus being the name of personal identity, that person of pre-incarnate existence. The apostle clearly teaches this concerning his Jesus in Colossians chapter 1. The person of virgin conceptio...

12:07 - 13:34 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Martin identifies the cornerstone as Christ Jesus, emphasizing His historical personage against modern 'Jesus ideas.' He stresses that it is 'Christ Jesus himself,' not a…

The example of Jesus saying 'He that heareth you heareth me' illustrates how Christ's authority is transferred to His commissioned representatives, though not replacing their personality.

Look at the text. Christ Jesus himself being the chief cornerstone. You see, the relationship to Christ, to his people is such, so intimate, so real that some things have passed on to his people that are attributed to him. You remember the Lord said to his own, He that heareth you heareth me.

16:07 - 16:37 Read in full sermon

Driving home: Ever being, continually being, always being chief cornerstone. Never think of chief cornerstone without thinking of Christ who is that cornerstone.

The example of Jesus asking Saul, 'Why persecutest thou me?' illustrates the intimate relationship between Christ and His people, where touching His people is touching Him.

By the transfer of authority, hearing his commissioned one is to hear him. You remember what he said to Saul of Tarsus. Why persecutest thou me? The relationship of Christ to his people is so intimate that to touch his people is to touch him.

16:56 - 17:11 Read in full sermon

Driving home: That's why the church is indestructible, not any given expression of the visible church. Churches, in terms of denominations and individual congregations, may come and go, but the true church composed of the elect of God…

Martin recounts his experience doing construction work, laying the first corner of a foundation, to illustrate how the cornerstone determines the angle and shape of the entire building, signifying Christ's regulative influence.

Now the word used here in Ephesians 2, repeated only in 1 Peter 2, 6, literally means at the tip of the corner. It's speaking of the stone, which is so cut and then set at the corner that it determines the whole direction and angle of the walls out of which it comes. Now we have no modern parallel in the way we build. This building has been made, obviously, of concrete blocks. And when I did construction work to put myself through college, working in the summers, I remember very vividly the first thing we would do after we laid a slab, and the slab had set, and the blocks were deposited, the f...

28:35 - 29:49 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Martin further explains the imagery, showing that Christ is the cohesive influence, joining Jew and Gentile in the spiritual temple. Most importantly, he argues, Christ holds the…

The metaphor of stonemasons rejecting a quarried stone as unfit for building, only for it to be later set as the 'head of the corner,' illustrates how Israel rejected Jesus, but God exalted Him to supreme honor.

We don't have time to go into the background of this psalm which has peculiar fulfillment in the nation of Israel and perhaps also in one of its kings. But since our Lord himself applies it directly to himself in the gospel records and it's found in all three of the synoptics, Matthew, Mark and Luke, found again in Acts 4 applied by apostolic authority directly to Christ, it is right for us to see that its ultimate fulfillment is in our wonderful Lord. The stone which the builders rejected is become the head of the corner. This is the Lord's doing. It is marvelous in our eyes. Now get the pict...

33:57 - 34:53 Read in full sermon