Did Christ Empty Himself

“Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” (Phil. 2:5-8 NASB). We are studying the subject “Christ Emptied Himself.” What does it really mean? Religionists are still debating the subject, and they will be debating it as long as there is time. Did Christ empty Himself? Of what did He empty Himself?

The strongest characteristic of man’s depraved nature is selfishness. The one desire of the unregenerate person is to gratify self. Even those actions in which a person may seem to have respect for God or his fellowman, trial in the sanctuary of God (Ps. 73:17) reveals he has self many times for his principle. There were many pious Christians in Philippi, but Paul detected a selfish spirit in their midst. Therefore, he warns them in the first four verses of the second chapter: “If therefore there is any encouragement in Christ, if there is any consolation of love, if there is any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and compassion, make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose. Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind let each of you regard one another as more important than himself; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others” (Phil. 2:1-4 NASB). It has been said many times, “The person who is wrapped up in himself makes a very small package.”

Christ’s glory as the only Begotten of the Father was beheld by only a few people. The minds of the greater number were blinded and their hearts hardened. They saw by prophecy no “…appearance that we should be attracted to Him. He was despised and forsaken of men, A man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; And like one from whom men hide their face, He was despised, and we did not esteem Him” (Is. 53:2, 3 NASB). That is the great Christological prophecy of the Old Testament. The form of God in which He is eternally was hidden from them. They accounted Him as a mere man, “…a worm, and not a man, A reproach of men, and despised by the people” (Ps. 22:6 NASB).

The key to the whole subject of the “kenosis” (Christ emptied Himself) is in the word “likeness.” It is a window through which floods the light of His redemptive purpose in the incarnation. God the Father was sending His own Son, “…in the likeness of sinful flesh, and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh” (Rom. 8:3 NASB). “In the likeness of men” conveys the full reality of His human nature (Phil. 2:7). He who had said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness…” (Gen. 1:26 NASB), is now made in man’s likeness. What condescension for sinful man to hold in contemplation.

God’s condescension is amazing because He is described by Isaiah: “…I saw the LORD sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple. Seraphim stood above Him, each having six wings; with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called out to another and said, Holy, Holy, Holy, is the LORD of hosts, The whole earth is full of His glory” (Is. 6:1-3 NASB). Earthly creatures come from the dust, dwell in houses of clay, and at their best are altogether vanity. God’s condescension reaches its greatest wonder when in grace the Sovereign God lifts the elect from the dunghill and sets them among the princes, the place of selected society (I Sam. 2:1-11). Hannah’s prayer of praise and the name she gave her son are alike, a prophecy of Christ. She has the honor of being the first to use the name “Messiah.” In her prayer, she said, “Those who contend with the LORD will be shattered; Against them He will thunder in the heavens, The LORD will judge the ends of the earth; And He will give strength to His king, And will exalt the horn [strength] of His anointed [Messiah]” (I Sam. 2:10 NASB). Here we see the prayer of praise. It has been said, “Little grace can pray; great grace can praise.”

Jesus Christ was not emptied of that fullness of grace which was in Him eternally. The Word which was God “…became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:1, 14 NASB). Please do not overlook John 1:16, which says, “For of His fulness we have all received, and grace upon grace” (NASB). John was not contrasting law and grace when he said, “For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ” (John 1:17 NASB). Furthermore, John was not contrasting two irreconcilable systems, but as two related parts of one complete system—God’s eternal covenant of grace. Law has no heart because it demands what cannot help. Grace unveils the heart of God. Take away Moses, and the Law stands the same; but take away Christ, and grace ceases to exist. Law manifests the need of grace. Grace refers to the Incarnate Word; truth points to the written Word. Grace regenerates; truth converts. Take grace from truth, and it is a mere illusion; remove grace from truth, and it can only condemn. Grace refers to the Son of God; truth refers to the Word of God.

“No man has seen God at any time; the only begotten God, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained [aorist middle indicative third person singular of exegeomai―meaning to explain, interpret, or report] Him” (John 1:18 NASB). Therefore, God the Son, in His incarnation, led the Father out from behind the curtain of invisibility into full view. Exegesis is the method of Bible study in which we fully explain, to the best of our ability, every detail of the text. In His incarnation, Jesus Christ has explained in finite terms the details of God the Father. The Son of God is not the only revealer of God, but He is Himself God revealed―the only begotten Theos.

In thinking of the “kenosis,” we must never permit ourselves to conceive of Christ as any Person other than God, who changes not. Malachi said, “For I, the LORD, do not change; therefore you, O sons of Jacob, are not consumed” (Mal. 3:6 NASB). The writer of Hebrews said, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today, yes and forever” (Heb. 13:8 NASB). There was an early confession held that the “kenosis” is not the incarnation but the cross. Their proof was Isaiah 53:12—“Therefore, I will allot Him a portion with the great, And He will divide the booty with the strong; Because He poured out Himself to death, And was numbered with the transgressors; Yet He Himself bore the sin of many, And interceded for the transgressors” (NASB). This prophetical statement “…He poured out Himself to death [divested Himself of His privileges]…” is a tremendous argument for the true “kenosis” being the Calvary experience rather than the incarnation. This view does not take anything away from Christ taking upon Himself the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of man. Christians should always be looking for better explanations to what seems to be complicated problems.

Jesus Christ did not surrender His attributes in the incarnation. He did not cease to be God, but He veiled His Deity in human flesh. The Son of God did not take upon Himself all that we are, but He did share flesh and blood that through death He might save the Father’s chosen ones that were given to the Son (John 17). The eternal Son of God shared our nature, but not our sinful, depraved nature. This is where the “virgin birth” comes into the picture. Mary asked the angel, “…How can this be, since I am a virgin? And the angel answered and said to her, The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy offspring shall be called the Son of God” (Luke 1:34, 35 NASB).

If Jesus Christ in the flesh was capable of sinning, the following things are also true:

1. If Christ could have sinned, Mary was stained with unchastity.
2. If Christ could have sinned, He was the seed of man.
3. If Christ could have sinned, He was like all other men.
4. If Christ could have sinned, He was not the Mediator.
5. If Christ could have sinned, He was not free from original sin.
6. If Christ could have sinned, He would have had to pray, “Father, forgive Me.”
7. If Christ could have sinned, He, being like other men, would have had to have a new birth.

Since there is not such a thing as a fallen nature, the word “fallen” must be applied to a person, not to a nature. In the light of these facts, I will give you some statements of J. B. Moody, a Baptist preacher: “The child of Bethlehem was begotten of the Holy Spirit, but being born of a regenerated woman, with the remains of depravity still in the flesh, there may have been a taint of the same depravity imparted to her child, which made it possible for him to sin and to suffer for sin…He can sympathize with us in the depravity which he could have gotten only by heredity.”― Sin, Salvation, and Service, pp. 9-10

The Greek verb kenoo, which is translated “emptied Himself [laid aside His privileges]” in Philippians 2:7, is used four other times in the New Testament—Romans 4:14, I Corinthians 1:17, I Corinthians 9:15, and II Corinthians 9:3. Christ “emptied Himself” must be understood one of two ways: (1) If it is connected with Christ’s Divine nature (essential equality or form of God), of what did He empty Himself? (2) If it is connected with Christ’s human nature, of what did He empty Himself?

The verb for “emptied” has been explained in the sense of removing something from a container until it is empty. Was the eternal Son of God emptied of Deity until He was empty? Did Jesus Christ exchange the Divine form of existence for a human form of existence? There is no Biblical evidence of Jesus Christ renouncing His Divine nature. It is heresy to even suggest such a thing. There are those who think they have toned down such strong language by suggesting the Son of God divested Himself of all Divine functions, attributes, and consciousness by restricting Himself to the limitations of man. They mean by this that the Son of God passed from one mode of being to another. The fact is that if Jesus Christ did not act in both natures during the condescension, How could He have been the Mediator?

The condescension of the Godhead is one of the amazing truths of the Bible. Condescension means to stoop or descend from a higher, or superior, position. God is described in Scripture as “…sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple” (Is. 6:1 NASB). The Psalmist said, “Who is like the LORD our God, Who is enthroned on high, Who humbles Himself to behold The things that are in heaven and in the earth? He raises the poor from the dust, And lifts the needy from the ash heap, To make them sit with princes, With the princes of His people” (Ps. 113:5-8 NASB).

The Father greatly condescended to purpose saving some from among depraved mankind (Eph. 1:4-6). The eternal Son of God condescended to take upon Himself the form of a servant in the incarnation. Furthermore, He condescended to purchase the elect with His blood (Acts 20:28). As the Father was no less the sovereign God when He condescended to purpose to save the chosen sinners, the Son was no less God when He condescended to be born of the virgin, live, and die for those the Father elected. Paul associated the blood of Christ’s human nature with a Divine title when he charged the Ephesian elders, “Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood” (Acts 20:28 NASB).

Finally, the Holy Spirit condescended to regenerate each person the Father elected and the Son redeemed. Condescension’s greatest wonder is that the Holy Spirit who resides in the believer is no less God than the Father who elected and the Son who redeemed. How humbling it is to believers when they realize the Father condescended to choose them; the Son condescended to redeem them; and the Holy Spirit condescended to regenerate and live in them. Therefore, Christians alone recognize and call the Son of God “Immanuel”―God with us (Matt. 1:23).

Christians cannot leave these climactic thoughts without saying that the only way out of depravity is “up.” Depravity is spiritual death, and such death is darkness. Paul said to the Ephesians, “For you were formerly darkness, but now you are light in the Lord; walk as children of light” (Eph. 5:8 NASB). Anyone who thinks the sinner is justified before God by his faith is a blind Arminian, because the sinner is dead spiritually. It takes spiritual life for one to believe the Father chose him, and the Son redeemed him. It also takes the Holy Spirit of regeneration to make him alive spiritually before he can believe.

Religionists claim the new birth is attributed to faith. Scripture, on the other hand, affirms that one must be born of God before he can have a conversion experience by faith. The Arminian thinks it is his act of faith that determines the act of God, but the Christian knows by experience that life in the subjective sense produced the faith that embraced the objective gospel in a genuine conversion experience (I Thess. 1:4-8).