CHAPTER 5 

In our Christian belief – correctly – that Jesus the Christ IS MESSIAH, we must hasten not to dismiss that of which Christians are most ignorant – though it is Christian scripture itself that proclaims it:  that Jesus is NOT THE WHOLE OF CHRIST,  but that Christ is A MANY-MEMBERED BODY!  Am I saying that scripture supports this statement?  Yes. 

1 Corinthians 12:12-21 (KJV):  “FOR as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body:  SO ALSO IS CHRIST…for the body is not one member, but many.  If the foot shall say, because I am not the hand, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body?  And if the ear shall say, because I am not the eye, I am not of the body; it therefore not of the body?…but now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased Him.  And if they were all one member, where were the body?  BUT NOW ARE THEY MANY MEMBERS, YET BUT ONE BODY. And the eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no need of thee:  nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you.” 

“SO ALSO IS CHRIST.” 

Perhaps if we understood what the term “Christ” means, we would gain more insight into the fact that Christ is a many-membered body.  The word “Christ” is really an adjective – NOT a noun – which means “anointed”:  G5547 (Strong’s Concordance),  Christos; “anointed; from “chrio” (G5548), “to anoint”, a term applied to EVERYONE anointed with the holy oil primarily to the high priesthood (Lev. 6:22, KJV).  Also a name applied to others acting as “saviours”, “deliverers”, “messiahs”. 

The term “Christ” is not in the Old Testament, but the same meaning is. That is “Messiah” or “Mashiyach” (H4899 – Strong’s Concordance).  The New American Standard Hebrew/Greek Key Study Bible says “this Hebrew adjective – mashiyach (O.T.:  “Messiah”; N.T.: “Christ”) – often used as a noun, IS ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT WORDS IN THE BIBLE.  Prophets, priests, or kings were “anointed ones”.  Patriarchs were called “anointed ones” (Psa. 105:15).  David respected King Saul as “The Lord’s anointed” (1 Sam.24:10, KJV).  David, himself, was The Lord’s “anointed”.  These are all called by the same word:  “anointed”, which both Messiah and Christ mean. 

Was any NON-Israelite or NON-Christian ever appointed by God Himself as The Lord’s “anointed one”?  Yes!  Ezra 1 (KJV):  “Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia (now Iran), that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and put it also in writing, saying, “Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, The Lord God of heaven hath given me all the kingdoms of the earth; and He hath charged me to build Him an house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah.” 

Isaiah 45:1-6 (KJV):  “Thus saith the Lord TO HIS ANOINTED (H4899:  “Mashiyach”, “Messiah”, O.T.; “Christ”, N.T.), to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden, to subdue nations before him; And I will loose the loins of kings, to open before him the two leaved gates; and the gates shall not be shut;  I will go before thee, and make the crooked places straight:  I will break in pieces the gates of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron: 

“And I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that thou mayest know that I, the Lord, which call thee by thy name, am the God of Israel.  For Jacob my servant’s sake, and Israel Mine elect, I have even called thee by thy name: I have surnamed thee, though thou hast not known Me.  I am the Lord, and there is none else, there is no God beside Me:  I  girded thee, though thou hast not known Me: that they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside Me.  I am the Lord, and there is none else.” 

Isaiah 44:28 (KJV):  “That saith of Cyrus, HE IS MY SHEPHERD, AND SHALL PERFORM ALL MY PLEASURE:  even saying to Jerusalem, THOU SHALL BE BUILT;  AND TO THE TEMPLE, THY FOUNDATION SHALL BE LAID.” 

Obadiah 1:21 (KJV):  “And SAVIOURS shall come up on mount Zion to judge the mount of Esau; and the kingdom shall be the Lord’s.” 

The faith of Cyrus’s land, Persia – which today is Iran – is Islam.  Their belief is that Muhammad is a prophet of God.  Dr. Seyyed Hossein Nasr, one of the foremost scholars of spiritual Islam and Professor of Islamic Studies at George Washington University says (in “Searching for God in America”):  “Islamic eschatology is very similar to the Christians – not in details, but in the grand design.  As far as macro-eschatology is concerned, Muslims like Christians believe it’s Christ who comes back at the end of history, not the Prophet of Islam.  We believe in the same coming [second coming] of Christ [as do Jews – brackets mine].   Many Christians do not know that.  In fact, we believe that the descent of Christ upon the Mount of Olives will mark the end of human history.  After that, terrestrial reality will be leveled, and everyone will be resurrected and judged by the supreme Judge.” 

It’s very interesting:  the first to know the many-membered Christ is the last to know Jesus (as Messiah).  The first to know Jesus (as Messiah) is the last to know the many-membered Christ! 

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