Phil.2:5-8 – 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. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
What does Paul even mean in this passage, “He emptied Himself” ? He emptied Himself of all the rights of the glory He had enjoyed from eternity with His Father. For us limited, natural beings, this is beyond anything we can know. It is impossible to know the greatness of His humility and sacrifice because it is impossible for mortals to grasp the greatness of the infinite blessing and rights Jesus has eternally enjoyed as the Son of God. We see the beginning of this humiliation when He was born in an animal’s stable in an animal’s feeding trough and wrapped in the swaddling clothes reserved for lambs. The creator of all things born like this among His creatures is quite shocking. Here is how Barclay describes this emptying of Himself.
“He emptied himself; he made himself of no reputation. The Greek is the verb kenoun, which means literally to empty. It can be used of removing things from a container until the container is empty, of pouring something out until there is nothing left. Here, Paul uses the most vivid word possible to make clear the sacrifice of the incarnation. The glory of divinity Jesus gave up willingly in order to become human. He emptied himself of his deity to take upon himself his humanity. It is useless to ask how; we can only stand in awe at the sight of him, who is almighty God, hungry and weary and in tears. Here, in human language stretched to its limits, is the great saving truth that the one who was rich for our sakes became poor.”
Why? We must all ask ourselves. Why would anyone give up such privelege and enjoyment? The answer is found in the word joy. “For the joy set before Him”, that’s why He did it. What was the joy set before Him? This is the best part, we are that joy, He purchased everything He gave up for us so that we could be brought into His glory. That’s the whole point, He became a man so that we could become sons and daughters of God.
1 thought on “HE EMPTIED HIMSELF”
Just as He emptied Himself, we must do the same but for a much different reason and opposite attachments. Yes, He did this to include all people, truly great love and grace. Compromise remains outside.