The word "Christ" is the English form of the Greek "Christos", and the Hebrew, "Messiah". Messiah means "the God-man deliverer".

 

The Jews figured out from the prophecy of Moses and other prophets that a messiah was coming, and that He was the one to deliver and bring them the ultimate deliverance. The ultimate deliverance is the deliverance from all evil and all that's human. And only the ultimate deliverer — the Messiah — could do that.

 

In the Garden of Eden, when man committed high treason and lost his rights to the world, he fell, and therefore, all that was human was corrupted and needed to be delivered. No wonder the prophet Jeremiah cried out, "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?" (Jeremiah 17:9). So, the Jews knew this, and expected the One who will deliver them from all that's evil and all that's human.

 

They looked forward to the coming of this "God-man" messiah, who was also

 

called "The Anointed One". They were familiar with the anointing of God; they knew that Moses, the Priests, the prophets, David, the king of Israel, and Saul his predecessor were all anointed. So, they weren't just talking about an anointed prophet or king; they were talking about the ultimate deliverer.

 

They called Him the God-man, because all that's good about God, all of His qualities and character would be found in this man. And that ultimate deliverer is Jesus Christ. He's the character, potency, power, and glory of God personified in a man. Halleluiah!