In the commentary following Helaman 13:27-28 it was noted that the Nephites show all of the signs of following the traditional order of the Nehors. One of the aspects of the Nehorite doctrine was the rejection of a belief in the Atoning Messiah. Their concept that the Lord had created and already redeemed all men (see Alma 1:4) precluded the need for an Atoning Messiah. This is the context for Samuel’s preaching, He speaks that they “might know of the coming of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Father of heaven and of the earth, the Creator of all things from the beginning.” This is the God of the Nephites, and the one who will come as the Atoning Messiah. This is the God that the Nephites have rejected, and therefore Samuel preaches to them.
Translation: Just as in the earlier texts from 1 Nephi, we should understand that the use of Jesus Christ and name and title is anachronistic in this context, and almost assuredly an artifact of translation. That was surely the meaning of the text on the plates, but just as assuredly, would not have been the literal words on the plates. The Nephites could easily have had the name Jesus, just as they did Mary. However, the Christ is a title, and comes to us through the Greek. The more direct translation of the same meaning in the Old Testament context is Messiah. While the meaning (“the anointed one”) is the same, the cultural context of the Nephites argues that we would be more accurate using the Messiah designation rather than the term we inherit through the Greek New Testament.