The Kenosis Of Christ

The title refers to the "emptying" of Jesus (the kenosis in Koine or common, "vulgar" Greek) or when He "made Himself of no reputation," NKJV, in the sense of laying aside His glory and independent usage of divinity, as He functioned as a man with all the limitations that go with it.  Christ never stopped being God, nor did He lose His powers as God, but only did what the Father told Him to do, following the interposed will of the Father.  Philippians 2:7 (NLT) says, "Instead, he gave up his divine privileges...." Christ's glory is that He laid aside all His glory and humbled Himself, even to the death on a cross as a criminal.



Some may object to this ignominious death, (thinking that it's repugnant to have Christ "defeated" by man) but it was the pleasure of the Father to judge sin in this manner.  We all ought to learn a lesson in humility following His example.  Just to make a point about true service, Christ took a towel and washed the disciples feet, and they were all taken aback, Peter even objected, thinking this was not fit the Lord's dignity.  When Christ said that we also ought to wash each others' feet, we get the lesson that, in God's economy, the way up is down just like John the Baptist said, "He must increase, but I must decrease"  (cf. John 3:30).



Peter failed to see Christ as the servant of the Lord and that greatness is in how many people you serve, not how many serve you.  Christ himself said that he came, "not to be served, but to serve and to give [His] life a ransom for many" (cf. Mark 10:45).  This gesture of foot-washing showed that we must be willing to humble ourselves, for humility comes before exaltation.  There is no caste system nor a superstar believer in the body, but all are "one in Christ" (cf. Col. 3:11; Gal. 3:28; 1 Cor. 12:13).  There are no "untouchables" and neither is anyone beyond redemption.




All believers are called to become  the servants of Christ; at the bema (or Judgment Seat of Christ) we all look forward to hearing Christ pronounce:  "Well done, thou good and faithful servant...."  Albert Schweitzer was right:  "The only happy people are those who have learned how to serve."   I call this humiliation of ourselves in Christ's service as the "order of the towel," and the question should not be how high we can aim, but how low we can go--nothing is literally "beneath" the believer.  Whosoever humbles himself as a child shall be great in God's kingdom (cf. Matt. 18:4).   Service is the keynote of Christ's ministry, for He went about doing good (cf. Acts 10:38).   Soli Deo Gloria!