The Self-Emptying of Christ

Jesus Christ has, is, and will always be God. A time will never come when He ceases being Deity. I am a human because I was born a human. A dog is a dog because they too were born a dog. Neither of us will ever be able to quit being who we are by nature. I will forever remain a human. I will not become an angel or any other created lifeform, but will remain as I am. Jesus is the same in that respect for He will always be who He is — God. He cannot be greater because He is already infinitely great. However, because He is God and the Creator of all things, it is possible for Him to take upon Himself human flesh and bones. He manifested Himself through a human mind, body and will the process of which is ultimately beyond our understanding. Jesus did empty Himself. That much is certain. However, He did not abandon His Godhood.

I once heard that a local store was suffering because there was no one to fill the management position. A woman who held a much higher role in the company, willfully chose to take a demotion for the good of the company and stepped into the gap in order to help that local store. She never became something different nor did she even take a pay cut to her salary. The only thing that changed was the status of her position within the company. In terms of employment, Jesus Christ took a demotion in status for our ultimate good and now because of His humility and willingness to do this, “…God has highly exalted Him and bestowed on Him the name that is above every name….”

Skip Heitzig quoted the following from D. L. Moody which I think encapsulates these difficult topic well.

I am glad there’s a depth in the Bible I know nothing about, for it shows its divine authorship. A man once came to me with a very difficult passage and said, “Mr. Moody, how do you explain that?”

            I replied, “I don’t.”

            “But how do you interpret it?”

            “I don’t interpret it.”

            “Well, how do you understand it?”

            “I don’t understand it.”

            “What do you do with it?”

            “I believe it! I believe many things I don’t understand.”

Bibliography

THE HOLY BIBLE, ENGLISH STANDARD VERSION. Crossway, Wheaton, IL, 2001 

Heitzig, Skip, HOW TO STUDY THE BIBLE AND ENJOY IT, Tyndale, Albuquerque, NM, 2002