What does the word "Christ" mean to you?

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What do you think "Christ" means?

  • It was Jesus' last name.

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • It means that Jesus is the Son of God.

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • It means that Jesus is the Savior.

    Votes: 3 30.0%
  • It means that Jesus is God's choice for a Sacrifice.

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • It means something else. (Please explain.)

    Votes: 7 70.0%

  • Total voters
    10

Retrobyter

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Shalom, everyone.

This is (IMO) a starting point to the understanding of prophecy. What one believes about this word (and terms related to this word) is fundamental to how one will perceive many of the prophecies, both in the Tanakh (the OT) and in the B'rit Chadashah (the NT).

Please don't think this childish or stupid to ask. Unless we have a good grasp on what this word means and how it is applied in Scripture, we may be going down the rabbit hole or through the looking glass when we interpret Scripture and apply it to our eschatological viewpoint. We cannot take the risk of wasting any more time on going down blind alleys only having to back up to where we went astray and trying again. We need to get it right the first time (or at least the "first time" from this point in time) and build upon some basic definitions, which I'm sure will come out in this thread.

That said, I'm going to back off and let you all contribute. All I would ask is that you all will keep it civil. It's okay to attack a belief or an idea; it's NOT okay to attack a person! Remember: We are all supposed to be brothers and sisters here, and we should ASSUME that we are talking to a brother or sister in our Master, Yeshua` (Jesus). So, treat others as if you are talking to the Ruach haQodesh Elohiym (the Holy Spirit of God) who dwells within them! Treat each other with the respect with which you would like to be treated.
 

jeffweeder

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God /Yahveh himself saves us by being born the wonderful child. His own arm has bought mankind salvation.
 

Retrobyter

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Shalom!

Thank you, terry and jeffweeder, for your input. However, I have only one vote between you. Please, don't forget to vote in this poll. Thanks, again.
 

Nomad

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The titles Christ and Messiah mean "anointed," which means "...to appoint, or qualify for a special dignity, function or privilege. It is in this sense that the word is applied to Christ..." International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
 

tgwprophet

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An omnipotentt being... God with the perferct Son Jesus, possessing power over everyting, even things we see hard to get past...
such as time and space/distance... but is time and space/distance really necessary? If God created time and distance what would reality be like without
time distance/space... consider this....

Without time... everything is ..... of course... present.. this means without time... there exists no space... everything is within reach...
now go deeper.... without space... everything is within ................. touch. within feel.....not like you must try to feel it but rather you always feel it. And given accurate thought this also explains where God came from. the answer... God always is....
without time.. everything is present... everything is ... now without distance... everything is within touch... everything is feel
Knowing reality can indeed exist without time and space/distance we can validate the Father the on and the holy Ghost.

So what does Christ mean....
God did not requre man... God desired man this makes Jesus devine to a measure we cannot understand... at least yet.
So my understanding of Christ is much more than I can express.
 

Trekson

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Hi Retro, I voted that Jesus is my Savior because you asked what does Christ mean to me but that is not all that He is and so I was tempted to select "something else" which would be true but not to me as a Gentile believer.

As Nomad pointed out the words Christ and Messiah mean "anointed" but that isn't really His identity, it's more like His job description. The key is how Christ referred to Himself in Luke 4:18-19 by quoting the prophecy of Is. 61:1-2a.

Luke 4:18-19 - "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,
[sup]19 [/sup]To preach the acceptable year of the Lord..."

He stopped in the middle of a verse. The rest of the prophecy reads: ..."and the day of vengeanceof our God, to comfort all that mourn..." which has 70th week significance and the rest of Is. 61 has millennial significance.

So for Israel only, He came as the Christ/Messiah to fulfill the prophecies but because of John 1:11 - "He came unto his own, (Israel) and his own received him not." (word in parenthesis mine) we have Rom. 11:11 - "I say then, Have they stumbled that they should fall? God forbid: but rather through their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles, for to provoke them to jealousy."

So although He came to Israel only as Christ and Messiah because of our "adoption" we can also claim Him as our Christ/Messiah/Sacrificial Lamb and Saviour. However, in forums such as this we commonly use the word "Christ" as if it were His last name.

So maybe there should have been an "all of the above" option. :D
 

Xian Pugilist

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Don't look now, but we found something we can agree on! :)

The titles Christ and Messiah mean "anointed," which means "...to appoint, or qualify for a special dignity, function or privilege. It is in this sense that the word is applied to Christ..." International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

The debate comes in what was the Christ appointed to do.

There is much more to HIM than salvation. I'm not even sure that's the most important thing. But, I'm selfish I'm pretty grateful for that one.
 

Dan57

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The Greek Christos means anointed, The Hebrew Yeshua is God's salvation.
Thus, Christ Jesus means the anointed (Christos) savior of God (Yeshua).
 

Retrobyter

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Shalom, all.

Thank you Trekson for your input.

You said,
Hi Retro, I voted that Jesus is my Savior because you asked what does Christ mean to me but that is not all that He is and so I was tempted to select "something else" which would be true but not to me as a Gentile believer.

As Nomad pointed out the words Christ and Messiah mean "anointed" but that isn't really His identity, it's more like His job description. The key is how Christ referred to Himself in Luke 4:18-19 by quoting the prophecy of Is. 61:1-2a.

Luke 4:18-19 - "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,
[sup]19 [/sup]To preach the acceptable year of the Lord..."

He stopped in the middle of a verse. The rest of the prophecy reads: ..."and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all that mourn..." which has 70th week significance and the rest of Is. 61 has millennial significance.

So for Israel only, He came as the Christ/Messiah to fulfill the prophecies but because of John 1:11 - "He came unto his own, (Israel) and his own received him not." (word in parenthesis mine) we have Rom. 11:11 - "I say then, Have they stumbled that they should fall? God forbid: but rather through their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles, for to provoke them to jealousy."

So although He came to Israel only as Christ and Messiah because of our "adoption" we can also claim Him as our Christ/Messiah/Sacrificial Lamb and Saviour. However, in forums such as this we commonly use the word "Christ" as if it were His last name.

So maybe there should have been an "all of the above" option. :D

Yeah, maybe there should have been. I also thought of putting "none of the above," but decided against both of those and just put "something else." As a hint, I will be casting my vote as a "something else," but I wanted to get "everyone's" response, first. I put "everyone's" in quotes because I know that everyone won't truly be voting. Some will think it ridiculous; some will abstain with distain, thinking it beneath them; some will be too shy to vote, even though there should be no judgment here; and some will - as usual - just be "lurking," watching to see what happens.

I'll let this go for a week and then talk about the responses.

Again, thanks for voting.

Shalom, Nomad.

The titles Christ and Messiah mean "anointed," which means "...to appoint, or qualify for a special dignity, function or privilege. It is in this sense that the word is applied to Christ..." International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

Thank you for your input. Again, I'm going to give everyone a chance to put in their responses for about a week and then we'll get into it.

Shalom, Xian Pugilist.

Don't look now, but we found something we can agree on! :)



The debate comes in what was the Christ appointed to do.

There is much more to HIM than salvation. I'm not even sure that's the most important thing. But, I'm selfish I'm pretty grateful for that one.

Yes! That IS a good reason to be grateful!


That's pretty close, but I think those are Greek letters in your avatar, spelled "iota-chi-theta-upsilon-s(t)igma." I usually transliterate that as "ICHTHUS," which is Greek for "FISH." However, the LETTERS stand for "Ieesous Christou Theou Huiou Sooteer" (using "oo" for omega and "ee" for eta), which translates to "Jesus Christ, God's Son, Savior." In Hebrew, this would be "Yeshua` haMashiach Bin-Elohiym Yaashua`" (which is a little redundant).

Hence, the sign of the "FISH" for the early churches to identify one another during the times of the Roman persecutions.

That's a keeper.....
The second of two high priests who were kings of peace....

Yep, and "kings of righteousness," too, for that's what the name means: "Malkhiy-Tsedeq."

Thanks for your input and your vote!

Shalom, Dan57.

The Greek Christos means anointed, The Hebrew Yeshua is God's salvation.
Thus, Christ Jesus means the anointed (Christos) savior of God (Yeshua).

Right you are. We'll be getting into it in much more depth after about a week.

Thank you for your input and vote!

Shalom, ENOCH2010.

Gods Anointed King of Israel

I knew I could count on you. Thank you for your suscinct and accurate answer and your vote.
 

Xian Pugilist

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Errrrr. yeah I knew what the letters are. And what he had said and the IXOYE went togeter as IXOYE was just a continuation of that thought.

I think it would be Icthys to be phoenetically precise, or Ixthys to really confuse the masses.

Like how I pulled the XY forward.... that was the image I put on Tshirts for a Men's group I led.

XY = men.... ba DUM dump.
 

Retrobyter

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Shalom, everyone.

Is that it? Are there any more out there that are going to respond? I know I've encountered others in other subjects.
 

Nomad

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We know that "Christ" means "anointed" and to anoint means to appoint to a special function. So what was that function?

Christ as prophet:

Mat 11:27 All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.

Joh 12:49 For I have not spoken on my own authority, but the Father who sent me has himself given me a commandment--what to say and what to speak.

Act 3:22 Moses said, 'The Lord God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brothers. You shall listen to him in whatever he tells you.

Christ as priest:

Heb 6:19 We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain,
Heb 6:20 where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.

Heb 9:11 But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation)
Heb 9:12 he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption.

Christ as King:

1Ti 6:15 ...he who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords...

Rev 17:14 They will make war on the Lamb, and the Lamb will conquer them, for he is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those with him are called and chosen and faithful."

Rev 19:16 On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords.

Christ as sacrifice:

Eph 5:2 And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

Heb 9:25 Nor was it to offer himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters the holy places every year with blood not his own,
Heb 9:26 for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.

1Jn 4:10 In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
 

Retrobyter

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Shalom, Nomad.

We know that "Christ" means "anointed" and to anoint means to appoint to a special function. So what was that function?

Christ as prophet:

Mat 11:27 All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.

Joh 12:49 For I have not spoken on my own authority, but the Father who sent me has himself given me a commandment--what to say and what to speak.

Act 3:22 Moses said, 'The Lord God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brothers. You shall listen to him in whatever he tells you.

Christ as priest:

Heb 6:19 We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain,
Heb 6:20 where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.

Heb 9:11 But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation)
Heb 9:12 he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption.

Christ as King:

1Ti 6:15 ...he who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords...

Rev 17:14 They will make war on the Lamb, and the Lamb will conquer them, for he is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those with him are called and chosen and faithful."

Rev 19:16 On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords.

Christ as sacrifice:

Eph 5:2 And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

Heb 9:25 Nor was it to offer himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters the holy places every year with blood not his own,
Heb 9:26 for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.

1Jn 4:10 In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

Thank you for your input. Yes, many do "know" already what "Messiah" means (or they THINK they do), but remember: we don't know that we don't know what we don't know! I'm not going to talk about it right now for fear of inhibiting others to vote, but I'm just trying to get a sampling of how much people DO know already. You might be surprised by what we find, IF we can get everyone to choose a selection. Not everyone knows what you've so eloquently stated here. Another couple of days, and we'll talk in depth.
 

Elle

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To me "Christ" means the anointed High Priest, King, and Prince, the Son of God.
 

Elle

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"Thank you for your input and your vote. Just a question, how does your take on the word affect your view of prophecy?"

Your welcome Retrobyter!, Might I ask that you expand on what you mean. I know your asking how does the word "Christ" affect my view of prophecy, but if you could offer an example, I might be better situated to answer your question.