Jesus as The Anointed One

The great New Testament confession of faith is that "Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God" (John 20:31; Matthew 16:16). "Christ," the Greek equivalent to the Hebrew word "Messiah", means Anointed One.

For what purpose was Jesus anointed?

The word "gospel," euangelion in Greek, literally means "good message." Jesus is the primary messenger of the gospel, the "one mediator between God and men" (1 Timothy 2:5). As "the messenger of the covenant" (Malachi 3:1), it was He who uttered the first gospel promise in Genesis 3:15. It was His Spirit that testified in the prophets of old (1 Peter 1:11). Revelation clearly presents God's channel of communication with men: God gives the message to Jesus, who sends and signifies it by His angel unto His prophet (Revelation 1:1). All the communication between heaven and earth has been through Jesus, the One Anointed to that purpose.

Jesus' role as God's First Messenger comes out in the Greek of Mark 1:1, arche tou euangeliou iesou christou. Arche means "beginning, first, chief." Jesus is the First Evangelist, the Chief Messenger of God. The shortened form of that Greek expression is archangel, a word that describes not the created beings we call angels, but the One of whom God said, "Let all the angels of God worship Him." Hebrews 1:6.

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