Mediator

Pastor Martin opens the second major section of Christology by establishing the importance of Christ's true humanity. The doctrine is of saving significance — without a true body and a reasonable soul, Christ could not be our Mediator. He then traces the Old Testament period of preparation, showing how the promise of the coming Deliverer is progressively narrowed: the seed of the woman, then of Abraham, then of Judah, then of David, and finally the virgin-born child who is also Emmanuel.

Continuing the witness of the Gospels to Christ's true humanity, Pastor Martin walks through evidence that Jesus possessed a true human body that hungered, thirsted, grew weary, slept, was strengthened, and ultimately could die. He then turns to the reality of a true human soul, showing it in genuine temptation in the wilderness and in a life of dependent prayer climaxing in Gethsemane. The sermon insists that without a real body and a real soul there is no real Savior, and that the person and work of Christ stand or fall together.

Pastor Martin moves from the Gospels into the period of explanation and application, demonstrating that the apostolic epistles continue to assert Christ's true humanity as essential to the gospel. He surveys Romans 1, Romans 9, 1 Corinthians 15, Galatians 4, 1 Timothy 2, and Hebrews 2 to show that Paul and the writer to the Hebrews never blush to call Jesus a man. He then applies the doctrine, showing that Christ's humanity authenticates him as the promised Messiah and equips him as an efficient mediator who could establish legal union with sinners, obey the law in their stead, and suffer the curse for their sins.