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NASB | Philippians 2:7 but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Philippians 2:7 but emptied Himself [without renouncing or diminishing His deity, but only temporarily giving up the outward expression of divine equality and His rightful dignity] by assuming the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men [He became completely human but was without sin, being fully God and fully man]. |
Subject: What does "emptied Himself" really mean |
Bible Note: Dear Brother Kalos, Very good post! Jordan Barret wrote something quite similar. It might be helpful to add his particular spin to the question of kenosis: "What has come to be called 'Kenotic theology' attempts to understand the incarnation of the second person of the Trinity in light of the kenosis of Phillippians 2:7. Its aim is to solve some of the supposed paradoxes arising from Jesus having both a divine nature and a human nature. For example, how could an all knowing God become a baby, how could God be tempted, or how could Jesus (being God) not know the time of His return? "The danger comes when it is concluded that in the incarnation, the second person of the Trinity took on human nature AND gave up or lost some of the divine attributes -- such that Jesus was not fully divine. The doctrine of the two natures of Christ (known as the hypostatic union) maintains that Jesus possessed a full undiminished human nature and a full undiminished divine nature, which were not combined or confused into some new nature but were added to each other forever (yet remaining distinct) in the one person Jesus Christ. "The question regarding the kenosis comes to this -- What does it mean when Scripture says Christ 'emptied' Himself? Did Jesus cease to be God during His earthly ministry? Certainly not, for deity cannot stop being deity or He would never have been true deity to begin with. Rather, the 'emptying' is satisfactorily explained in the subsequent words of the verse, taking note of the two participles which grammatically modify and explain the verb: He emptied himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. This emptying, in fact, was done as the man Christ Jesus, and neither of these ideas necessitates or implies the giving up of divine attributes." "Christianity maintains that Jesus did not 'empty' himself of any of his divinity in the incarnation, although it is true that his divine attributes were veiled. When the Kenosis theory concludes that Jesus is or was less than God (as has been the case in the past), it is regarded as heresy." In Him, Doc |