When Did Jesus Become The Christ?

[mrroy1937]

He always has been the Christ. He simply dwelled a short time in a mortal body.

 

[savedbygrace57]

He certainly existed in the OT times, for His Spirit was in the Prophets 1 pet 1:11

Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow.

 

[Scotth1960]

We have become so comfortable saying "Jesus Christ" as if "Christ" was somehow Jesus' last name as opposed to a word that shows to Jesus of Nazareth is God's Anointed One.
Knowing that christ means anointed, my question to the board is when did Jesus get anointed and as a bonus, what was he anointed to be?

The holy beloved disciple and Apostle/Evangelist of Jesus Christ, St. John the divine (the theologian), says of Jesus Christ: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God; the same was with God in the beginning." Jesus Christ is "begotten of the Father before all ages" (Nicene-Constantinople Creed of 381 AD). There was never a time or age when Jesus Christ did not exist. He existed in eternity as THE LOGOS, the living WORD OF GOD. He became a man, became incarnate, in the power of the Holy Spirit, in the ever-virgin Mary in Nazareth in 4 BC. The best scholars seem to agree the approximate (though no man knows the day nor the hour of Christ's birth day, was approximately 4 BC). He died in 30 AD, approximately. It may have been on Friday, April 7, 30 AD that Christ was crucified, and maybe on Sunday, April 9, 30 AD, Christ rose from the dead! Alleluia! Christ is risen! Bless the Lord O my soul; let all that is within me, bless His Holy Name! Christ is caused eternally to exist from the Fountainhead of God the Father. The Holy Spirit is caused eternally to exist from the Fountainhead of God the Father. The Father externally exists in Himself, and is His own cause, is the First Principle of the Godhead. Christ came in the flesh to redeem sinful men as an expiation (removal) of their sins by the blood of His Cross (1 John 2:2).
Christ be praised now and forevermore unto the ages of ages, in the Church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth, in the presence of His Holy Spirit of truth, Who proceedeth from the Father, to the glory of God the Father; Amen. In Erie PA Scott R. Harrington
:nod

 

[TRUTH over TRADITION]

We have established that we understand (at least most of us) that the term "christ" simply means anointed. A study of the ancient scriptures will show us that God as had other "christs" in the past like King Saul, Cyrus, and Israel. The question I now pose is a WHAT question. What was Jesus anointed/christed by GOD to do or be?

AGAIN, since the answer has not been given I will repeat mt earlier question. What was Jesus anointed/christed by GOD to do or be?

 

[childeye]

The Word of God is His communique. When He utters His thoughts we come to know His Person and all creation testifies to His attributes. The Christ is the True Image of God sent to man so that we might know Him and worship Him in Truth. The Word made flesh. What does He do? Actually many things but for this thread I will stck to one topic. He washes away the corrupt image of god that is in man's souls.

Every person reasons and makes moral judgment according to what they imagine God would say. Even an atheist must do this as we all have some absolute, that which we believe to be true. We all have an image of God yet they are not all the same. That is why there are many religions yet only One God. What our image of god is, then becomes the spirit of our morality. The christ is the True Image of God sent so men might believe in him and become the children of God since then the spirit of the Christ becomes our morality.

And this Image, this Christ, revealed a love that always and ever is, unto God's glory, incorruptible and eternal in faithfulness and trustworthiness as far as the human heart is able to discern. For this Christ, suffered humiliating rejection, fierce and viscious brutality, and finally slow and agonizing death at the hands of those both secular and religious authorities. And yet from his lips and from his heart, he asked forgiveness from God to all those who had treated him so wickedly, with such cruelty and wanton malice. Now the world can see that this is how God is, and through believing this, a man is changed.
Jesus was the Christ from conception but He always was the Word before he was made the Christ.

 

[TRUTH over TRADITION]

What was Jesus anointed/christed by GOD to do or be?

I believe that the answer to the above question is in fact given to us in scripture and it's not as "spiritually complicated" as some may think.

In scripture as well as ANE cultures individuals who were anointed were typically anointed/chosen/selected to be or should I say to fill a certain rank or position. Saul, David, and even Cyrus were spoken of as God's anointed in the OT scriptures as all were chosen by God to be kings. The same can be said for Jesus of Nazareth! He was chosen by God to be the long awaited king the Jews had read so much about in Daniel, Isaiah, and other prophetic writings. Jesus himself attested to this fact in Luke 22:28 where he tells his disciples that his Father made a promise to him for a kingdom.

This Jesus was chosen by God before creation to be the king of God's creation and he proved worthy of that lofty anointing by being faithful to God in all things even to the point of death. It is because of Jesus' faithfulness that God raised him up and has given him a name above all names and that again is why the Father has made all of creation subject to Jesus.

So in conclusion, Jesus was chosen by God before creation, he was anointed with God's Holy Breath at his baptism, and he was given the throne of the kingdom after his resurrection from the dead. He was always destined to be THE CHRIST, but he actually became the Christ AFTER living a faithful life, dying, and then being raised again by the power of God.

 

[savedbygrace57]

Jesus became the Christ, the Anointed one from Everlasting. He was setup from Everlasting according to Prov 8:22-23

22The LORD possessed me in the beginning of his way, before his works of old.

23I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, or ever the earth was.

Before I began, I believe wisdom here is Christ, after all Paul says of Christ under inspiration this 1 Cor 1:24

24But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God.

Now back to proverbs 8, it reads in vs 23, That I was setup from everlasting . That word set up is in the original nacak:

to pour out, pour, offer, cast

a) (Qal)
1) to pour out
2) to cast metal images
3) to anoint (a king)
b) (Niphal) to be anointed
c) (Piel) to pour out (as a libation)
d) (Hiphil) to pour out libations
e) (Hophal) to be poured out
2) to set, install
a) (Qal) to install
b) (Niphal) to be installed

I believe this is describing when Christ was Anointed from Everlasting
,
The Mediator Offices of Prophet, Priest and King

I don't believe wisdom here is Just God's Attribute of Wisdom because, why would that need to be set up, to be anointed, to be installed into an office or function ?

No this is speaking of God's Only Begotten Son, the Christ being Anointed and being made the Mediator of the Church.

Peters confession reveals that God had revealed unto him that He was Christ the Son of the Living God Matt 16:16

16And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.

Now, He was the Son given ! Isa 9:6

6For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given:

If He was a Son before being given, then He was the Christ before being given !

 

[Drew]

We have become so comfortable saying "Jesus Christ" as if "Christ" was somehow Jesus' last name as opposed to a word that shows to Jesus of Nazareth is God's Anointed One.
Knowing that christ means anointed, my question to the board is when did Jesus get anointed and as a bonus, what was he anointed to be?

There is some debate as to what "Christ" means. I certainly agree with you that it is not a "last name". A source that I trust (theologian NT Wright) asserts that "Christ" essentially means "king". Perhaps this is essentially what you mean by "annointed" - I don't know.

 

[Drew]

I believe that Jesus is God in the flesh. (God decided to come to earth in the form of a human being, so he did so as Jesus Christ.) Therefore, Jesus was God from the moment he was born.

Even though there is some ambiguity re what "Christ" meant to those who wrote the scriptures, I am pretty sure the term "Christ" had, before the time of Jesus, any implications of divinity.

In other words, while we all may agree that Jesus is "divine", the term "Christ" is more connected to notions of "kingship" or "Messiahship" than to divinity.

I suggest that few, if any, Jews expected their king (Messiah) to be divine.

 

[Drew]

AGAIN, since the answer has not been given I will repeat mt earlier question. What was Jesus anointed/christed by GOD to do or be?

He was appointed to be the "true King". More specifically, He was annointed to be the one who bears Israel's destiny, who does for her what she could not, or would not, do for herself. Israel's destiny was to be a "light to the nations". She failed to do so, and that vocation gets borne by Jesus who fulfills it by dying on the cross for the world.

In the Hebrew world, this is how the category of "king" worked - the king was essentially "the entire nation rolled up into a single person".

Again, I assert that the term "Christ" really has more of a "kingship" flavour than any kind of implication of divinity.

 

[savedbygrace57]

Jesus Christ was appointed the Mediator for God's Elect before the world was created and populated Prov 8:

23I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, or ever the earth was.


24When there were no depths, I was brought forth; when there were no fountains abounding with water.

25Before the mountains were settled, before the hills was I brought forth:

26While as yet he had not made the earth, nor the fields, nor the highest part of the dust of the world.

27When he prepared the heavens, I was there: when he set a compass upon the face of the depth:

28When he established the clouds above: when he strengthened the fountains of the deep:

29When he gave to the sea his decree, that the waters should not pass his commandment: when he appointed the foundations of the earth:

30Then I was by him, as one brought up with him: and I was daily his delight, rejoicing always before him;

31Rejoicing in the habitable part of his earth; and my delights were with the sons of men.

Christ was set up and Established as the Mediator Redeemer for God's Elect in Adam, before Adam was Created from the dust of the ground. Notice again vs 26

26While as yet he had not made the earth, nor the fields, nor the highest part of the dust of the world.

His delight then was with the Sons of Men. What Sons of Men ? The Elect Chosen in Him before the foundation Eph 1:4

4According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:

Prov 8:26 confirms this !

Now understanding this, When Christ became to be and why, we know that all things were created for His redemptive purpose in the world of men Col 1:

14In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins:


15Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:

16For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:

17And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.