Philippians 2:6-11
This text does not assert that the eternal Son of God gave up or surrendered any attributes of deity. Jesus “emptied” himself by becoming a man, not by ceasing to be God.
We now come to the all important statement in v. 7 that the Son “emptied himself” (NASB) or “made himself of no reputation” (KJV) or “made himself nothing” (ESV).
The verb used is kenoo, and is found in the NT only in Paul’s writings: Romans 4:14; 1 Cor. 1:7; 9:15; 2 Cor. 9:3; and here in Phil. 2:7. A crassly literal rendering, “to empty,” (as is found in the NASB), inclines us to ask the question: “Of what did Christ empty himself?” In spite of the fact that the “it” or “content” of which Christ allegedly “emptied himself” is nowhere stated in the text, many have insisted on supplying an answer.
The argument has often been made that he emptied himself of the divine nature or the “form of God” (v. 6). Others point to his position or status of “equality with God” (v. 6) as the content of which he emptied himself. H. A. W. Meyer, for example, writes: “Christ emptied himself, and that, as the context places beyond doubt, of the divine morphe, which he possessed, but now exchanged for a morphe doulou” (88).
The theological implications of such a view must be noted. It would mean that by virtue of the incarnation, the second person of the Trinity ceased to be God. This view, known in history as the doctrine of Kenosis (hence Kenotic Christology), entails a form of divine suicide. More on this below.
A slight variation (and, in my opinion, improvement) on the Kenosis doctrine is the assertion that it was the “glory” or doxa of God of which he emptied himself. I.e., the Son divested himself of the visible splendor and outward radiance of deity by clothing himself with human flesh. He remained God, but the glory of his deity was obscured and hidden “by the dark lantern of His humanity” (Taylor).
Clearly, however, Paul intends us to interpret this verb in precisely the way he uses it elsewhere in his epistles. In each of the other texts the meaning is “to make void,” “to render of no effect,” “to nullify,” “to despoil,” “to make of no reputation,” or the like. The point of the word is not to specify some content of deity or divine glory of which Christ emptied or divested himself. Rather, it is designed to emphasize the radical and far-reaching dimensions of his self-renunication.
Again, not surprisingly (if we keep in mind the crucial role of context), the meaning of this verb is in vv. 7-8. He “emptied himself” by taking the form of a bond servant and by being made in the likeness of men and by being found in appearance as a man. In other words, Christ did not divest himself of any divine attributes or in any sense become less than God. Rather, Christ “emptied” himself, paradoxically, by taking something to himself. Simply put:
THE INCARNATION IS THE KENOSIS!
That which constitutes the self-renunciation or self-emptying of Christ is the assumption of human nature. The second person of the Trinity “made himself of no reputation,” not by ceasing to be God, but by becoming man!
Sam Storms