The
LORD’s Attributes & Personality
Throughout the
Scriptures as in reality in life, we discover that The LORD has AWESOME
ATTRIBUTES & MAJESTIC PERSONALITY.
The Messiah
The Anointed One
The word Messiah comes from a Hebrew term that means
"Anointed One." Its Greek counterpart is ‘Christos’, from which the
word Christ comes. Messiah was one of the titles used by early Christians to
describe who Jesus was.
The One Anointed by GOD and Empowered by GOD's
SPIRIT to deliver His people and establish His Kingdom. In Jewish thought, The
Messiah would be The King of the Jews, a political leader who would defeat
their enemies and bring in a golden era of peace and prosperity. But the true
Christian knows from GOD’s Word that the term Messiah refers to JESUS CHRIST.
It speaks of Jesus' role as our spiritual Deliverer, setting His people free
from the power of sin, death, the grave, hell and satan.
In Old Testament times, part of the ritual of
commissioning a person for a special task was to anoint him with oil. The
phrase “anointed one” was applied to a person in such cases. In the Old
Testament, Messiah is used more than 30 times to describe kings (2 Sam
1:14,16), priests (Lev 4:3,5,16), the patriarchs (Ps. 105:15), and even the
Persian King Cyrus (Isa 45:1). The word is also used in connection with King
David, who became the model of the messianic King who would come at the end of
the age (2 Sam 22:51; Ps 2:2). But it was not until the time of Daniel (sixth
century B.C.) that Messiah was used as an actual title of a King who would come
in the future (Dan 9:25-26). Still later, as the Jewish people struggled against
their political enemies, The Messiah came to be thought of as a political, military
ruler.
From the New Testament we learn more about the people's
expectations. They thought the Messiah would come soon to perform signs (John
7:31) and to deliver His people, after which He would live and rule forever
(John 12:34). Some even thought that John the Baptist was the Messiah (John
1:20). Others said that the Messiah was to come from Bethlehem (John 7:42).
Most expected the Messiah to be a political leader, a king who would defeat the
Romans and provide for the physical needs of the Israelites.
According to the Gospel of John, a woman of Samaria
said to Jesus, "I know that Messiah is coming." Jesus replied,
"I who speak to you am He" (John 4:25-26).
In the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, however,
Jesus never directly referred to Himself as the Messiah, except privately to
His disciples, until the crucifixion (Matt 26:63-64; Mark 14:61-62; Luke
22:67-70). He did accept the title and function of messiahship privately (Matt
16:16-17). Yet Jesus constantly avoided being called "Messiah" in
public (Mark 8:29-30). This is known as Jesus' "messianic secret." He
was The Messiah, but He did not want it known publicly in those days.