Introduction
In Christianity, the Kenosis (keh-no’- sis) refers to the self-emptying of Jesus. The term is a derivative of the Greek word kenóō, meaning, ‘to empty, make empty,’ which appears in Philippians 2:7, where Paul says that Jesus, “emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men.” The passage, verses 5-11, describes for us Christ’s attitude of humility in setting aside His privileges as God, and then concludes with His ultimate glorification.
Philippians 2:5 Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 Therefore also God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE SHOULD BOW, of those who are in heaven, and on earth, and under the earth, 11 and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
The Bible teaches that Jesus was fully God (John 1:1; 10:30)1, and fully man (Luke 2:52; Gal 4:4)2, and that Jesus experienced life as a man while retaining His attributes as part of the Trinity. Theologians refer to this as the hypostatic union.3 The Bible does not explain how this worked, and I do not know either. But in my research on the subject I ran across some interesting points that I would like to share in this article.
Divine Attributes
There are three divine attributes that seem the most talked about when it comes to the Kenosis. Omniscience, Omnipotence, and Omnipresence. The reason for this is contained in the following question. How can the ‘fully man’ part of Jesus be omniscient (all-knowing), omnipotent (all-powerful), and omnipresent (everywhere-present)?
The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (ISBE) observes, “God’s omniscience is not merely human intellectual knowledge raised to the infinite power, but something of an entirely different quality, hardly conceivable to human thought -as different from human intellectual knowledge as the Divine omnipotence is different from muscular strength.”4
The ISBE is pointing out that Jesus is not just a better man, not just smarter. The omniscience of Jesus, as God in the flesh, is defined by Charles Ryrie this way: God “knows everything, things actual and things possible, effortlessly and equally well.”5
We don’t know exactly how the humanity and divinity of Jesus functioned together, and we must be careful to not come to conclusions that are not revealed in Scripture. (Note: Please let me remind you that what we know about God is what He has revealed to us in the Scriptures and in His creation. We cannot figure it out for ourselves!) I talk more about His divine attributes in the paper, Who is Jesus?
What the Kenosis Is
The Kenosis was a self-renunciation, not an emptying Himself of deity. Ryrie describes the Kenosis by saying, “The self-emptying permitted the addition of humanity and did not involve in any way the subtraction of Deity or canceling the use of the attributes of Deity. There was a change of form but not of content of the Divine Being. He did not give up Deity or the use of those attributes; He added humanity. And this in order to be able to die. Isaiah put it this way: “He poured out Himself to death.” (53:12)” 6
Another way of saying it, is that Christ’s “emptying” of Himself was a laying aside of the privileges that were His in heaven. Rather than stay on His throne in heaven, Jesus chose to occupy the position of a slave. As Philippians 2:7 says, that he took “the form of a bond-servant.”7
An entry in The Hastings’ Dictionary of the Bible agrees: “The language of the NT appears to warrant the conclusion that the Incarnation was not a mere addition of a manhood to the Godhead, but that ‘the Son of God, in assuming human nature, really lived in it under properly human conditions, and ceased from the exercise of those Divine functions, including the Divine omniscience, which would have been incompatible with a truly human experience.’ It has even been held that the Son in becoming incarnate ceased to live the life of the Godhead altogether, or to exercise His cosmic functions. But for this there is no support in the NT [New Testament], and Colossians 1:17 and Hebrews 1:3 more than suggest the contrary.”8
These two verses, speaking of Jesus, say:
Colossians 1:17 “And He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.”
Hebrews 1:3 “And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power.”
Conclusion
Jesus, with all of His attributes as God, and at the same time a fully perfect human being, chose to set aside His privileges and take the form of a slave to redeem mankind. This demonstrates the God’s love for us, especially considering the fact that He did this while we were His enemies. “For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.” (Romans 5:10)
Application
The self-emptying of Jesus described by Paul in Philippians was given as an example for us to follow. The passage tells us what we should be doing (v. 5 “Have this attitude in yourselves”), and was not intended to explain how the God-man functioned in His divinity/humanity. Living this kind of sacrificial life is impossible without the supernatural work of God in our lives through the Holy Spirit. Please see my post on Persevering.
1 John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God; 10:30 I and the Father are one.
2 Luke 2:52 And Jesus kept increasing in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men. Galatians 4:4 But when the fulness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law.
3 Charles C. Ryrie, Basic Theology, (Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers, 1986), 324 “The result of the Virgin Birth was a God-man. God always was. The total human nature was conceived by the Spirit in the womb of Mary, and the Baby born was Fully God and a perfect human being, united in one person forever. This is called the hypostatic union.”
4 ISBE. Entry for ‘Kenosis’.
5 Ryrie, 629 “Omniscience of God”
6 Ryrie, 301
7 Strong’s concordance for the Greek word translated ‘bond-servant’ -doulos: a slave
8 Hastings, James. Entry for ‘Kenosis’. Hastings’ Dictionary of the Bible.