Jesus, the Savior
Perhaps thankfully for most, the creed avoids the theological subtleties of the doctrine of Christ, steering a course instead for the more personal and Biblical emphases of His name and title, Jesus Christ. Now, let's be clear on that last statement since many people hear the address "Jesus Christ" and take that as His full name - Jesus being His first name and Christ His last. But this is not the case. As I've just said, Christ is actually more of a title as in "Jesus, the Christ."
While children's names today (at least in America) are rarely more than phonetic labels the name Jesus holds immense meaning and significance. Recall that God chose this name and announced it to Joseph through an angel of the Lord. What reason did the angel give? He says, "...you are to give him the name Jesus, because He will save His people from their sins," Matthew 1:21.
The name Jesus means "the LORD (YHWH) saves" and it's not that Jesus is the first Hebrew boy ever to be so named - the old testament pronunciation of the name is Joshua. What is astounding here is that He is the first child of whom a heavenly messenger said He will do the saving!
Furthermore, any Jewish man - I'm thinking of Joseph here - would have immediately thought of the many passages in the scriptures that speak of Jehovah alone as Israel's Savior and what that implied about the child Mary would bear. The prophet Isaiah, for instance, says, "For I am the LORD, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior... I, even I, am the LORD, and apart from me there is no savior," 43:3, 11. There could only be one conclusion: all the old testament statements of YHWH being the Savior of Israel are condensed and incarnate in Jesus.
