Philippians 2:7

Instead of maintaining His former manner of existence our Lord "emptied Himself" (NASB), "made himself nothing" (NIV), or "laid aside His privileges" (NASB margin, Gr. ekenosen). From this Greek word we get the term "kenosis," which refers to the doctrine of Christ limiting Himself when He became a man. The kenosis theory in theology deals with this subject.

What did He lay aside? It was not His deity. Jesus did not cease to be God when He became a man. This is clear from the context as well as from other Scriptures (e.g., John 10:30; Colossians 1:15-20; et al.). He did not lay aside His dependence on the Father either. As the terms "Son" and "Father" reflect, the Son was always dependent on His Father within the administrative order of the Godhead.

Taking humanity imposed certain restrictions on Jesus Christ, including those involved in possessing a physical body and a human, though not a sinful, nature. He laid aside the glory and freedom that His former manner of existence afforded Him when He became a man. He became dependent on the Father in a different sense than had been true formerly. However, Paul did not say that Jesus emptied Himself of something. He simply said that He emptied Himself, that is, He poured Himself out. [Note: Ibid., p. 210.] Compare Isaiah 53:12, where the prophet wrote that the Servant of the Lord poured out Himself to death.

"It is not ’Of what did he empty himself?’ but ’Into what did he empty himself?’" [Note: Motyer, p. 113.]

Paul described Jesus’ self-emptying as taking the form of a bond-servant. "Taking" (Gr. labon) does not imply an exchange but adding something. The Lord did not lay aside the form of God; He did not cease to be God. He added the "form" of man. The same Greek word, morphe, occurs in Philippians 2:6 where it describes outward appearance that accurately reveals inward nature. Earlier Paul described himself and Timothy as bond-servants (Philippians 1:1). Bond-servants are not just men. They are servants. The Messianic title "Servant of the Lord" reflects this humility and condescension of our Savior.

Furthermore Jesus Christ became in the likeness of men (cf. Romans 8:3). "Likeness" (Gr. homoiomati) does not mean exactness (Gr. eikon). Even though Jesus had a fully human nature, that nature was not sinful. Every other human being has a sinful human nature. Moreover Jesus had a divine nature as well as a human nature.

As an example to the readers, this verse is an advance on the previous one. It shows that Jesus Christ was not just willing to change His behavior for others, but He really did so by becoming a man who was a servant.