The Kenosis of Christ

The Kenosis of Christ
By Tommy Franks

Phil.2:5-11 “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation (emptied Himself), taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

Kenosis comes from the Greek verb keno? This appears in Philippians 2:7: “But emptied himself, taking the form of a servant. The Greek word “kenosis” simply means “to empty”. He laid aside his mighty power and glory. Jesus was born in the likeness of men and was found in appearance as a man. Jesus emptied himself in becoming human. In Christ, God chose to limit Himself in relationship to the world. What does this limitation mean? Throughout history, there have been a number of interpretations of this passage:

One: The assertion that in Jesus, His divine attributes were fully present, but only hidden. (This theory does not coincide with Scripture nor is recognized by our Christian heritage.)

Two: The assertion that all relative attributes of divinity (attributes such as omnipresence, omniscience, omnipotence) were given up in becoming human. This is what actually happened. Christ was on Planet Earth as a man…the God-man. Please note: He did NOT give up His Divine Nature…Because He was God…is God…and always will be God. However, He temporally gave up His equality with God the Father. He gave up His authority in heaven and earth…which was given back to Him after the resurrection. He gave up His power to do miracles until He received the Holy Spirit in all fullness (Jn.2:11, 3:34; Lk.3:21-22). Listen carefully: Christ attributed all His works, doctrines, and powers to the Father through the ANOINTING of the Holy Spirit (Jn.8:18, 28-29, 42; 5:17-18, 30, 6:38).

In addition, Christ was tempted as a man…not as God…because God cannot be tempted. Christ ate. He slept. He cried. He loved. He had human emotions. He got angry. He got hungry. He was tempted.

He was limited to the status of a man (by His own volition). He did this voluntarily. (See Heb.2:14-18, 5:7-9.) Next: This is KEY. “How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him. And we are witnesses of all things which He did both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem, whom they killed by hanging on a tree. Him God raised up on the third day, and showed Him openly, not to all the people, but to witnesses chosen before by God, even to us who ate and drank with Him after He arose from the dead. And He commanded us to preach to the people, and to testify that it is He who was ordained by God to be Judge of the living and the dead” (Acts10:38-22).

We know that this kenosis was voluntary. Verse 6 states that Jesus “did not consider equality with God something to be grasped.” This leads us to believe that equality with God was something that Jesus could have grasped and exercised, but chose not to…Jesus had the ability and authority to limit His divinity. Jesus could not limit His divinity if it was not possessed already.

A second important assertion in Philippians 2 is that Jesus is both God and man. Jesus is simultaneously divine and human (all God and All man). Jesus was in the “form” or “very nature” of God, but He took on the form or very nature of a servant. Kenosis is not a loss of anything, but is instead the willing limitation of the exercise and glory of divinity in taking on humanity.

Jesus demonstrated that He was human…in that he walked around, ate, slept, grew tired, and died. Thus, the question remains, what does this kenosis mean? I believe that kenosis means that in Christ, God chose to limit Himself…giving up the glory and privilege of divinity. God chose to come to earth in a limited form, while remaining truly God. Jesus was not God in all His glory while on earth…for though He spoke as one with authority, He was not readily recognizable as God. If the glory had been directly perceptible so that everyone could see it as a matter of course, then it is surely an untruth that Christ abased Himself and took the form of a servant.

Furthermore, let us take a look at what Isaiah said about Jesus 700 years before His birth. “There shall come forth a Rod from the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots. The Spirit of the Lord SHALL rest upon Him…The Spirit of wisdom and understanding…The Spirit of counsel and might, The Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord. His delight is in the fear of the Lord,
And He shall NOT judge by the sight of His eyes, NOR decide by the hearing of His ears; But with righteousness He shall judge the poor, And decide with equity for the meek of the earth; He shall strike the earth with the rod of His mouth, And with the breath of His lips He shall slay the wicked. Righteousness shall be the belt of His loins, And faithfulness the belt of His waist” (Isa.11:1-5). See also Isa.53.

If Christ had these attributes (spirit of wisdom, understanding, counsel, might, knowledge, and fear of the Lord)…as God from all eternity and did not lay them down in becoming a man, then what was Isaiah talking about? The above Scripture says “shall rest upon Him”. When? When He was filled with the Holy Spirit…

The doctrine of Kenosis recognizes that during this time of dispensation, our Lord voluntarily restricted the independent use of His divine attributes for the execution of God the Father's plan, will, and purpose for the Incarnation.

He did this in compliance with the Father's plan for strategic victory. For the plan for the Incarnation not only called for the judgment of our sins, the provision of eternal salvation for all members of the human race, but simultaneously for the strategic victory of all conflict. Under the true doctrine of Kenosis, our Lord became true humanity in order to fulfill the Father's plan for the dispensation of the hypostatic union (any of the three persons of the Godhead constituting the Trinity…especially the person of Christ in which divine and human natures are united). The Lord Jesus Christ voluntarily took on Himself true humanity in order to redeem mankind from sin, in order to propitiate God the Father, and to reconcile mankind to God. During the Incarnation, Jesus Christ did not exercise the independent use of His own divine attributes even once, either to benefit Himself, to provide for Himself, or to glorify Himself.

Scripture also indicates that Christ was limited as a baby…and grew in body, soul, spirit, wisdom, grace, and stature (Lk.2:40, 52; Mk.13:32).

Jesus chose to limit Himself in becoming human…and then God “exalted Him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name” (Phil. 2:9). Jesus was God self-emptied, but also became God “re-filled.” The kenosis ended in a glorification and exaltation. This is not simply a return to a past state, but instead is the glorification of Christ to a new, refilled state.

From Christology (specifically from Philippians 2), we develop an understanding of kenosis as divine self-limitation. Kenosis moves toward an understanding of Jesus as both divine and human through understanding that in kenosis, God voluntarily chose to limit Himself in becoming Human, but kenosis does not alleviate the paradox of divine and human natures in one person. Therefore, we shall see kenosis to be voluntary, a self-limitation, fully preserving the divinity while choosing to take on limitation in becoming human, and culminating in a refilling.

Finally, let us look at the fairness of Christ. He told us to go and do the things that He did. This proves that He did those miracles through the anointing of the Holy Spirit…not as God in using His deity and Godly attributes. He did all of His works on earth through the power of the Holy Spirit…which we have available to us today! Thank God for Jesus!