BIRTH OF CHRIST VS BIRTH OF JESUS, PART ONE
By Dr. Henry C. Kinley
Dr. Kinley gave this leccture at 1347 North Cahuenga Blvd.Hollywood, CA 90028,1966, Los Angeles, California, NOTE: Although the True Names were revealed to Dr. Kinley in a vision in 1931 he used Lord, God, and Jesus Christ until he published Elohim, The Archetype Original Pattern of the Universe in 1961. Minor editorial changes also have been made for clarity and to preserve the flow of thought.
[NOTE: In this lecture Dr. Kinley describes the two manifestations of the one Godhead: Christ (the incorporeal) and Jesus (the physical). He explains that the birth of Christ, or the anointed who created all things, occurred before the angelic and physical creation. The birth of Jesus, our savior occurred through the loins of the Virgin Mary. This is Christs birth into a physical body. You can find a summation of his main point under the subtitle, Is Spirit manifest in the incorporeal and the physical? on p. 31 of this article.)
If you noticed, the Bible Dictionary spoke of Jesus Christ. It didnt make any distinction between Jesus and Christ. That is our objective, to show you in reality, [there is] such a distinction. In dealing with the nation of Israel, the Apostles realized that they had to be very careful about what they said to them; because they had the Law of Moses and the books of the prophets. To talk to them intelligently about Christ, or the real Messiah [the Spirit that quickens every man and dwells within each of us], then they didnt have too much to say about Jesus [the physical manifestation of Christ who lived in the flesh for 33 years]. That is to say, they didnt speak of Him as they had in later years as Jesus Christ, as we would say, John Jackson, etc. They distinguished between one Jesus (physical) and the other Christ (incorporeal).
Now I want you to notice the Apostles writing to the Jewish people. The Apostles are trying to make them understand that this person whom we spoke of as being Jesus the Christ, is in reality the one who actually was not Jesus, as we understand Him to be. I want you to read in the epistle to the Hebrews.
Did Christ make the worlds?
Let us look at the first chapter of the Hebrews. This is an epistle written directly to the Jewish people (not to the Gentiles) and should be respected as such. "God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds; Who being the brightness of his glory and the expressed image of his person..." Now, if you will notice, he says, by His Son, God made the worlds, which was some time before Mary was born. Can you see the Apostles approach to the Jewish people that had the Law and Prophets? See the difference between the approach? Paul tells the Hebrews that God made the worlds by His Son or created everything that was created by His Son. "Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high; Being made so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they. For unto which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my son, this day have I begotten thee? And again, I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son? And again, when he bringeth in the firstbegotten into the world, he saith, And let all the angels of God worship him. & But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, 0 God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom. ... And, Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of thine hands: They shall perish; but thou remainest; and they all shall wax old as doth a garment; And as a vesture shalt thou fold them up, and they shall be changed: but thou art the same, and thy years shall not fail. &"
I wanted you to notice the difference in the approach. He actually laid the foundations of the earth and the heavens are the works of thy hands. Now if you notice, technically, He spoke of His Son in the approach that He used to those who had received and read the Pentateuch and the prophecy.
We will read some verses to connect this together, so we can show the actual birth of Christ (incorporeal). We are not talking about [the birth of] Jesus (physical). Proverbs 8:22. First read Revelation 3:14. Revelation means revealed, so you can understand that the Law and the Prophets are condensed in such a way that you can appreciate the mystery that has been hidden for ages and generations; that is not generally talked about or studied in our religious literature.
What was "in the beginning"?
We have spoken quite frequently about the beginning of creation. Generally, the first thought that comes into our minds is the first chapter of Genesis, "In the beginning God created the heaven and earth &" which is the physical creation. That is NOT the beginning of the creation of God. The real beginning of the creation of God is Christ (incorporeal). That is why we wanted to bring your attention to the first chapter of Hebrews, so that you could see the difference between the one [the birth of Christ] and the other [the birth of Jesus].
Now if we read Revelation 3:14, it will describe the actual beginning of the creation of God. You will see that it is not the creation of heaven and earth. "And to the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God;" That is the real beginning of the creation of God. The faithful and true witness is Christ. Revelation 1:5; "And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead," Now we understand that instead of the physical creation being the beginning of the creation, it is Christ, He is the first.
Why must the invisible source take on form?
Now read St. John 5:37, "God is Spirit ... " So said John, quoting the words of Jesus who is called the Christ in St. John 4:24, that God is Spirit. If God is Spirit, He is inconceivable. You wouldnt know anything about any shape or any form, etc. So just to speak of God being Spirit, you wouldnt have a profound knowledge of any shape or any form or any creation or anything (see illustration on p. ___). God is Spirit, or substance, incorporeal substance. He must take on some kind of shape and form [to be understood]. In taking on shape and form, the form that He took on, to me is the birth of Christ. So you can see, the beginning of the creation of God, the faithful and true witness, who knew God, and come direct from God, and was the only one that did know God. He was a counterpart of God Himself (see illustration on p. __).
If you dont hear or see God, can you know Him?
St. John 5:38 states: "And the Father himself, which hath sent me, hath borne witness of me. Ye have neither heard His voice at any time, nor seen his shape." Now the Jewish people, to whom the Messiah came, that were born a few years prior to His advent into the world, hadnt heard the voice of God. But those that were born back in the wilderness, heard God speak from Mt. Sinai. They heard the voice, but didnt see a shape or any form at all. You could hear the sound of the word that was spoken back there with your ears, but you couldnt visualize a shape or form. So therefore, He said in John 5:37 that these that were living when God took on a physical body and came into the world, had not heard His voice, nor seen His shape at any time.
When did Christ appear to Israel?
I had you to examine that so you could understand that Jesus was in physical shape and in form, but no one had seen Gods shape and form at all before He came in that physical body. Therefore, we speak of God at that time, when He had taken on shape and form. No one had seen Him to describe Him. No Hebrew had seen His shape and form until later when He manifested Himself in the shape and form of Christ that appeared up in Mt. Sinai, in that cloud in incorporeal form. He did not appear as a physical man, but by a vision, that is, in incorporeal form. That is to me the birth of Christ, not the birth of Jesus. That was long before the physical creation ever took place. Let us see if that is true.
Does the creation reflect the creator?
As I previously said, He had to take on incorporeal shape and form before He began to create for this reason. Everything, such as the man, that He created in the universe had to reflect back to His existence so that you could see the thing that shaped and formed it. You could see and determine something about the attributes of God in incorporeal form. Man in his physical stature shows the invisible God.
So when Moses, Aaron, Nadab and Abihu and 70 elders saw Him up in the mount, He was not in a physical form at all (Exo. 24:9-10). When Moses saw Him and looked at Himself, or saw Him create Adam, then he was able to say that he was created in His likeness and in His image (Gen. 1:26). Then Jesus Christ, whom we speak of as being the Christ, was the express image of the incorporeal form that man was created in the likeness of. In other words, when Moses saw the incorporeal form in the mount, and looked at a man, he knew that he was created in the likeness and image of the incorporeal form that he saw in Christ. That incorporeal or Christ had to exist, because God, which is that unshapened substance which we know nothing about, had to take on this form before He began to create.
Was Christ in the beginning?
He seeks to prove it. Proverbs 8:22-31: "The LORD possessed me in the beginning of His way, before His works of old. I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning," That was some time, even before the Virgin Mary ... "or ever the earth was. When there were no depths, I was brought forth; &" Now He was brought forth from that substance. He took on incorporeal shape and form before ever the earth was. Moses said in the first chapter of Genesis: "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth." But now here we are saying that He was with the Lord before ever the earth was, or God possessed Him in the beginning of His way before ever the earth was.
"& when there were no fountains abounding with water. Before the mountains were settled, before the hills was I brought forth: While as yet He had not made the earth, nor the fields, nor the highest part of the dust of the world. When He prepared the heavens, I was there: When He set a compass upon the face of the depth: When He established the clouds above: when He strengthened the fountains of the deep: When He gave to the sea His decree, that the waters should not pass His commandment: when He appointed the foundations of the earth: Then I was by Him, as one brought up with Him: &" Meaning He was brought up from that substance, or brought forth into that incorporeal form. "& and I was daily His delight, rejoicing always before Him; (or that day that never ended;) Rejoicing in the habitable part of His earth; and my delights were with the sons of men." I just wanted to show you the true birth of Christ, because God created all things, that were created, by Christ.
We have some contention when we read Exodus 3:14 and compare it with St. John 8:58. When you read, look where you are reading and understand what dispensation and what age you are in and where the references are made, then it will begin to dawn on you. Exodus 3:14 "And God said unto Moses, I am that I am, and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel. I Am hath sent me unto you." When those words were expressed, Moses was in the wilderness of Sinai by the burning bush. Before he went down into Egypt to deliver the Children of Israel, Moses wanted to know who should he say sent him. God told Moses to tell them that "I Am" sent him. That was before he brought the children of Israel out and went up into Mt. Sinai in the cloud and saw Him in an incorporeal form. God just told him to tell them that "I Am" sent him.
How can anything be before Christ?
If you will look from a chronological point of view, this event was before the birth of Mary, to say nothing about this event being before the birth of Jesus or the birth of Christ. That is why I say, there is no such thing as Before Christ (incorporeal) or B.C. In general theological terms, it is accepted that B.C. means, before the birth of Jesus (physical), but there is no such thing as before the birth of Christ (incorporeal). Why? Because He created all things by Christ Himself. Also the birth of Christ did not take place in the realm of time, it took place in eternity, so there could be no birth date set up for Christ. There is no birth date for Him. Birthdays occur in the realm of time and He was brought forth in Eternity. So December 25, or no other month or day can be His actual birthday. He had a birth day, that is to say, He was born, or set up from everlasting to everlasting. The day has never ended, because it has never begun. It took place in Eternity. So when we read here about the Virgin Mary, it was sometime after the Word or Son came along.
In St. John 8:58, Jesus said unto them: "Verily, Verily I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I Am." The reason I had you read in Exodus and compare it with St. John 8:58, was to show you that the common way of expressing His birth into the world was to call Him Jesus, the Christ. But at the time, the words that Moses recorded in the 3rd Chapter of Exodus and the 14th verse were before the event in the flesh or before He had taken on a physical body, chronologically. Look at Isaiah 9:6: "For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace." I am saying that when the incorporeal form came into the world, manifesting itself in a physical body, (that is to say, when God manifested in a physical body, not an incorporeal body), they called Him, Wonderful, Counselor, The Prince of Peace and The Mighty God.
Is Spirit manifest in the incorporeal and the physical?
The Apostle Paul said in 2 Timothy 3:16: "Without controversy, great is the mystery of God, God was manifested in the flesh, seen of angels, believed on in the world, and received up into glory." It is a great mystery to understand the difference between the two births.
" Lets describe Spirit as universal substance, as being God without shape and without form.
" Then lets call that incorporeal substance taking on incorporeal form Christ.
" Then it takes on a physical form, that was born through the loins of the Virgin Mary. Lets speak of it as Jesus.
That is the one and the same God manifesting in incorporeal form and in physical form; it is a great mystery. The general or theological concept is that it [the divine substance] is three different persons as the Trinitarian idea seeks to call it. It is definitely not 3 different persons. If it were 3 different persons, then it would be 3 people. Its not that, but its one single, monotheistic concept of the one God manifesting in incorporeal form and in visible form.
Does John confirm the unity of the Spirit?
Lets see if we can verify and confirm that. The 1st Chapter of St. John, 1st verse states: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." As referred to in Proverbs 8:22: "The Lord possessed me in the beginning of his way..." Now John is saying, "In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God." 14th verse "And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth."
Did the Spirit dwell in the tabernacle in the wilderness?
When Moses constructed the tabernacle and consecrated it in the wilderness of Sinai. The cloud stood above the tabernacle and in the Most Holy Place. The high priest was brought in and out once every year on the Day of Atonement. He would smite the ark of the covenant, which is symbolical to the throne of God, where the 2 cherubim of glory overshadowed the mercy seat, as is seen on the chart in the Most Holy Place. He put on those garments of beauty and glory and went into the Most Holy Place once every year, all other days of the year he went only into the Holy Place. Once a year he entered through the vail, symbolizing the flesh, and into the Most Holy Place, which is symbolical to eternity or into heaven. There he threw blood toward the mercy seat 7 times, first for his own sins, then for the errors of the people, that encamped 3 tribes on each side of the tabernacle and 4 sides, making a total of 12 tribes. When God had accepted the atonement, there would be a light reflected between the wings of the Cherubim. The high priest didnt see any form, he just saw the reflection of light, called in theological writing the Shekinah. That light was identified with God. God is light.
The high priest performed and carried out the services according to the precepts that God gave to Moses for the routine operations. This showed that the tabernacle is symbolical to your body. It is also symbolical to the body that God manifested in who we speak of as Jesus. God dwelt in that tabernacle and He also dwelt in Jesus. He expressed it this way. I am in the Father, and the Father is in me (John 14:11). And He talked so much about His Father, because He was not seeking to make a reputation for Himself, until Philip asked Him to show us the Father, that we might be satisfied (John 14:8). Christ said: " Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father? (John 14:9)." The Messiah explained that the body was the tabernacle through which Spirit operates, as it did in the wilderness of Sinai in the tabernacle, and as it does in you.
Is man a unity?
I have tried to explain that your body has been made up like the incorporeal form or made in the likeness and image of God (Gen. 1:26-27). You are pneuma, psyche and soma, or soul, body and Spirit (I Thess. 5:23). So to go back, this Spirit substance which is God, takes on form (Christ), and later transforms into a physical body (Jesus). It is very clearly indicated when you go into Dr. Harriss phase of it. A child is born and conceived from the sperm. It is formed, head first and then on down. Then you can understand something about the structure of the Godhead because man is made in the likeness and image of God.
Now read Revelation 1:8-9. Revelation means reveal, but bear in mind, when you read it, that the Messiah had been in the world or He was the one that created everything. He took on a physical form and then He took it off and went out of the flesh. Now He is back in that incorporeal form where He was with the Father before the world begun, or back in that eternal state, where you dont visualize Him as a physical man. That is to say, He has entered on through the veil or flesh. & He is talking in Revelation, to his servant John on the Isle of Patmos by the angel. "I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is and which was," meaning which is now and which was when He was manifested in the flesh, "which is to come" ūthree different statementsū"the Almighty".
How does the birth of Christ differ from the birth of Jesus?
We have tried to show you the birth of Christ. Now we want to talk about the birth of Jesus. The birth of Christ means anointed. The word Jesus means Savior. When you read, make sure that we take what is in the book. Who is being born here? Note and see whether or not in the 1st chapter of Matthew, if it is the birth of Christ or not. Matthew 1:18. "Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found which child of the Holy Ghost." Now he is talking about the thing, and they have already learned to speak of Him as Jesus Christ. Matthew 1:21. "And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS:" not Christ but JESUS. Notice carefully, that this book of Matthew was written about 18 years after the ascension of Jesus, the Christ we are talking about. Somehow they have begun to call Him Jesus Christ, so when he comes down to say the birth of Jesus Christ, its just a common way of expressing it. But when he gets down to the 21st verse, in the 1st chapter of Matthew, where he is actually telling the story as to whether or not that Mary gave birth to Christ or not, he did not say if you notice the 21st verse that Mary gave birth to Christ. "And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins." But in reading and understanding, they have begun to call Him Jesus Christ, etc. Then we see that they use it without the distinction, in particular in reference to Christ (that created the world) and Jesus (the physical body that Christ or God was manifested in).
The Bible Dictionary says the birthday of Jesus is about December 5th or 25th, which is not the birth of Jesus. Mary was overshadowed with the Holy Ghost. Nobody comments on this. They read right on without taking thought of what this Holy Ghost is. The Holy Ghost is an apparition. She was overshadowed with the Holy Ghost, that apparition which Jesus talked about, that you would receive after His departure out of the flesh. He told His disciples to tarry in Jerusalem until you receive power from on high. For He would send the promise of the Father upon them and they would receive power after the Holy Ghost would come. The same Holy Ghost overshadowed the Virgin Mary, as you read in the 1st chapter of Matthew. There are some atheists who say that it is impossible to bring about a birth without the masculine and feminine secretion. They deny the virgin birth of Jesus according to gynecology and the generations of the human species. They dont see how a child could be born without a physical father. Some of the atheists even speculate that Mary received the seed of which Jesus was born by some impregnation from the angel. At no time have I ever heard anyone say anything about the child being formed by the apparition or by the Holy Ghost which overshadowed Mary. She was impregnated by that same Holy Ghost that must overshadow you so that you can be born again. It was the same seed that the Virgin Mary conceived with and gave birth to Jesus. Now you can see that the incorporeal form overshadowed her, and the child was formed in her without the physical father as we know a birth is accomplished from that, or bring about the physical body of Jesus or that tabernacle which God was manifested in.
This is to explain the difference between the birth of Jesus and the birth of Christ. As for the day and place of Jesus birth, as the first man Adam was a type of Christ, the second Adam and Christ is fulfilling that of the first Adam. As Adam was formed on the 6th day of creation, then Christ must be born on the 6th day, not the 25th or 24th, but the 6th. As for His place of birth which seems to be by inconvenience to find an inn, and was compelled to be born in a stable with the cattle and animals. He fulfilled the conditions existing with that of the first Adam who was created from the dust of the earth after God had created the animals of the field. A stable was generally a place of shelter, in the side of a hill or bank.