Christ: Anointed, the Greek translation of the Hebrew word rendered "Messiah"
(q.v.), the official title of our Lord, occurring five hundred and
fourteen times in the New Testament. It denotes that he was anointed
or consecrated to his great redemptive work as Prophet, Priest, and
King of his people. He is Jesus the Christ
(Acts 17:3; 18:5; Matthew 22:42) the
Anointed One. He is thus spoken of by Isaiah
(Isaiah 61:1) and by Daniel
(Daniel 9:24-26) who styles him "Messiah the Prince." The Messiah is the
same person as "the seed of the woman"
(Genesis 3:15) "the seed of Abraham"
(Genesis 22:18) the "Prophet like unto Moses"
(Deuteronomy 18:15) "the priest after
the order of Melchizedek"
(Psalms 110:4) "the rod out of the stem of
Jesse"
(Isaiah 11:1,10) the "Immanuel," the virgin's son
(Isaiah 7:14) "the
branch of Jehovah"
(Isaiah 4:2) and "the messenger of the covenant"
(Malachi 3:1) This is he "of whom Moses in the law and the prophets did
write." The Old Testament Scripture is full of prophetic declarations
regarding the Great Deliverer and the work he was to accomplish. Jesus
the Christ is Jesus the Great Deliverer, the Anointed One, the Saviour
of men. This name denotes that Jesus was divinely appointed,
commissioned, and accredited as the Saviour of men
(Hebrews 5:4)
(Isaiah 11:2-4; 49:6; John 5:37; Acts 2:22) To believe that "Jesus is the Christ"
is to believe that he is the Anointed, the Messiah of the prophets, the
Saviour sent of God, that he was, in a word, what he claimed to be.
This is to believe the gospel, by the faith of which alone men can be
brought unto God. That Jesus is the Christ is the testimony of God, and
the faith of this constitutes a Christian
(1 Corinthians 12:3; 1 John 5:1)
