The Great Emptying
"but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant,being born in the likeness of men." (Philippians 2:7)
I wanted to stay on the theme of my message on Sunday about the song of the Messiah found in Philippians 2:6-11. I invite you to meditate on its profound truth regarding the incarnation of the Lord Jesus Christ. He existed in glory in the very form of God, and yet He did not cling to to His equality with God. Rather, He emptied Himself of His glory and chose to become man. This is the theological phenomenon called the great "Kenosis", or self-emptying. As this term implies, in His incarnation, the Messiah chose to empty Himself of His divine privileges. This explains why in Luke 2:40, it is written of Jesus that "He grew and became strong, filled with wisdom". People wonder how Jesus can be God and yet had to go through the developmental stages of a human being. The doctrine of the "kenosis" or self-emptying provides the answer. I mentioned in my sermon that Jesus emptied Himself of His glory. In His high priestly prayer near the end of His earthly life the Lord Jesus said "And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed" (John 17:5). It is also worth noting that the Lord emptied Himself of His divine knowledge which explains why in Matthew 24:36 He said that He did not know the hour of His second coming. He also emptied Himself of His riches, He became poor so that by His poverty we may become rich (2 Corinthians 8:9). The great "kenosis" or self-emptying set the stage for Jesus to become our high priest Who can truly sympathize with all the weaknesses of humanity and yet was triumphant in remaining without sin (Hebrews 4:15). By His self-emptying, Jesus also became the perfect sacrifice, Who though He knew no sin, for our sake became sin so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him (2 Corinthians 5:21). As I mentioned in my sermon, Jesus' emptying is not a lessening of His divinity but rather a setting aside of it. To use a visual aid, it is not like a jar being emptied of water, but rather more of a golden jar replaced by a jar of clay, yet still full of water symbolizing His deity. Jesus remained 100% god while He walked the earth in His incarnation. We were all empty jars of clay that were filled by treasure that came from God through Jesus (2 Corinthians 4:7). Christ emptied Himself so that we may become full of Him. This profound truth impacted humanity not only through Jesus' becoming the ransom for our sins but also by our continuous participation in the glorified Christ. We undergo our own self-emptying that enables us to count others more significant than ourselves and look not only to our own interests, but also to the interests of others (Philippians 2:3-4). This is the key to the church truly becoming the body of Christ and His continuous incarnation to a lost and dying world. I am constantly amazed by the awesomeness of God's redemption plan through the "kenosis" of Jesus Christ in His incarnation. I can only echo Paul's words in Romans 11:33-36:
Have you ever come on anything quite like this extravagant generosity of God, this deep, deep wisdom? It’s way over our heads. We’ll never figure it out.
Is there anyone around who can explain God? Anyone smart enough to tell him what to do? Anyone who has done him such a huge favor that God has to ask his advice? Everything comes from him; Everything happens through him; Everything ends up in him. Always glory! Always praise! Yes. Yes. Yes. (Romans 11:33-36, The Message) Blessings to you all! Pastor Ramon
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