Jesus Christ (ca. 5/4 bc–ad 30/33). According to the New Testament, Jesus Christ is the incarnate Word of God, the Creator and Savior of the world, the founder of Christianity, and the sinless exemplar of its principles and practices. “Jesus”—His personal name—is the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew “Jeshua” (or “Joshua”). In Matthew 1:21 the name was divinely appointed, “for He will save His people from their sins.” Since the name was common in His lifetime, He was usually referred to in a more specific way, such as “Jesus of Nazareth” (John 1:26; Schaeder, “Nazarēnos, Nazōraios,” 874–79). “Christ,” the anointed one, is a title that acknowledged that He was the expected Messiah of Israel. In the Gospels, Jesus is usually identified as “the Christ.” After Peter’s sermon at Pentecost in Acts 2:38, He was usually referred to as “Jesus Christ.” This composite name joins the historic figure with the messianic role that prophetic expectation and early Christianity knew that He possessed.