the Kenosis - Chambers, Oswald

The Self-Limitation on the Part of the Logos in the Act of Incarnation

At one time the subject of the kenosis was always being discussed by theologians what was it that Jesus emptied himself of ? How did he limit himself ? Or did he limit himself at all? Nowadays, the subject is scarcely touched upon; according to the modern standpoint Jesus Christ was simply a great, noble and good man. It is not stated in so many words, but we are brought to that conclusion. We are told that by under- standing our own consciousness, we can understand the consciousness of Jesus Christ. The new testament reveals that to be false. Jesus distinctly said, no one knoweth the son, save the father (RV), and over and over again our lord makes statements regarding himself which reveal him to be a unique being.

The doctrine of the kenosis is clear first to our heart, not to our head; it is a spiritual fact, not a thought-out fact. When a mans heart is right with god the mysterious utterances of the bible are spirit and life to him. Spiritual truth is discernible only to a pure heart, not to a keen intellect. It is not a question of profundity of intellect, but of purity of heart.

1. Self-disglorification

Have this in mind in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: who, being in the form of god, counted it not a prize to be on an equality with god, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant. . . . (Philippians 2:57 RV )

Paul does not tell us what Jesus emptied himself of: he emptied himself of what he was in his former existence. That is a revelation fact, and we must beware of any explanation that explains it away. The apostle Paul does not say that Jesus thought nothing of himself; he thought truthfully of himself, he knew who he was, but there was no self-assertion. Paul connects the two being on an equality with god and not counting it a thing to be grasped (av ). That means Jesus never presumed on his equality with god, he did not continually assert it. There was only one brilliant moment in the life of Jesus, and that was on the mount of transfiguration. We do not know what the glory was which he had with the father before the world was, but if we stand with him on the mount we see what he emptied himself of. On the mount the voice of the father expressed the divine approval this is my beloved son, in whom i am well pleased; yet it was a step on to the cross a way none ever went before, or has ever had to go since.

Recall the temptation of our lord; Satan tempted him on this very line, viz. , to assert him- self. Remember who you are, the son of god, assert your prerogative as son. At the heart of every one of our lords answers is this i did not come here to assert who i am, i came here for gods will to be done through me in his way.

The same temptation comes to us as gods children if you are sanctified, presume on it, think of it as something to be grasped. Whenever we get our thoughts fixed on our experience instead of on the god who gave us the experience, it is impossible to form the mind which was in Christ Jesus. It is not a question of sanctification, but of what happens after sanctification. The steadfast habit of the christian life is the effacement of self, letting Jesus work through us without let or hindrance 5 as the father worked through him.

Whenever we are told by the spirit of god to follow the example of Jesus, the following is emphatically prescribed to a particular point:

For hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, that ye should follow his steps: who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth: who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, threatened not. . . . (1 peter 2:2123 RV)

Peter makes it perfectly clear and unambiguous how we are to follow his steps, viz. , in the way we suffer as Christians. Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth: . . . When he suffered, threatened not. Follow his example there, says peter; just as Christ exhibited an unthreatening spirit when he suffered, we are to do the same. No human being can suffer wrongfully without finding the spirit of threatening awakened in him, a spirit which if put into words would be ill make that person smart! The idea of saying that about me! If we are born again of the holy ghost the disposition of Jesus in us will enable us to follow his steps so that when we suffer wrongfully, we do not threaten. The following is distinctly limited to that one point. Learn of me; for i am meek and lowly in heart. We are never told to be like the unique being the lord Jesus Christ who came into the world as god incarnate to put away sin, but when sin has been put away through the atonement, we are to be conformed to his image. To fol- low his steps does not mean we have the belittling idea that we are to be Jesus Christ over again. It is not a question of what would Jesus do? But, what would Jesus have me do? We have to exhibit over again the life he exhibited; in this particular instance, in the circumstance of suffering wrongfully. Suffering is the touchstone of saintliness, just as temptation is, and suffering wrongfully will always reveal the ruling disposition because it takes us unawares. Have this mind in you, which was also in Christ Jesus (RV ). In this verse Paul indicates the type of mind we are to form, viz. , the mind of true humility, the mind of christ which he exhibited when he was on earth utterly self-effaced and self-emptied, not the mind of Christ when he was in glory. If you are a saint, says paul, manifest it by having the mind which was in Christ who said, i am among you as he that serveth. One of the essential elements of deity is the humility expressed in a baby and in Jesus Christ. And he called to him a little child, and set him in the midst of them, and said, verily i say unto you, except ye . . . Become as little children, ye shall in no wise enter into the kingdom of heaven (RV). To interpret these words to mean that we are to have as our ideal being servants of all, would end in mock humility. We cannot form the mind of Christ if we have not got his spirit, nor can we interpret his teaching apart from his spirit. Our spiritual destitution and entire dependence upon god, and our despair of ever attaining to this kind of life, is in reality the most glorious chance for god. The spirit of god never allows the thought that is apt to crop up now and again in spiritual teaching, that we are to be specimens of what god can do. That thought is inspired by the devil, never by the spirit of god. I am not here to be a specimen of what god can do; i am here to live the life so hid with Christ in god that what Jesus said will be true, men will see your good works, and glorify your father which is in heaven.

2. Self-renunciation

And the word became flesh. . . . ( john 1:14 RV)

Him who knew no sin he made to be sin on our behalf; that we might become the righteousness of god in him. (2 Corinthians 5:21 RV)

The word, the logos, became flesh for one purpose, to be identified with sin and put it away. At his baptism our lord took on him his vocation, which was to bear away the sin of the world, and it was along that line that he narrowed and limited and confined himself. We miss the mark when we think on the aesthetic line and take our lord as a specimen of a highly strung, superbly fine nature, suffering from contact with coarse natures; we are talking nonsense if we put his suffering there. He never paid the remotest attention to that kind of suffering, nor is there any allusion made to it in the new testament. His suffering is not the suffering of a man of refined sensibilities among brutes, or a holy character among unholy characters; his suffering is in a totally different domain and along a different line from anything from which we suffer, it is the suffering of a saviour. Though he were a son, yet he learned obedience by the things which he suffered. Jesus Christ was god incarnate for one purpose, not to reveal god to us, that is simply one of the outcomes of the incarnation; the one great purpose of his coming was to bring back the whole human race into oneness with god. He who was originally in the form of god, on an equality with god that was his right, not a thing to be graspedrenounced it all, and took upon him the form of a slave, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross, in order that he might deliver the weak and the ungodly and the sinful from sin. (see Romans 5:68. )

In presenting the life of Jesus Christ we are not presenting an example, but an historic fact essential to our souls salvation. A sinner saved by grace will always refer in his testimony to the moment at which he experienced new birth. People who have never been convicted of sin say that what we call saintliness is sim- ply the evolution of the finer qualities in man; there is no room whatever for that thinking in the new tes- tament. The finer qualities of man are remnants and ruins of what he once was, not the promise of what he is going to be, and the only way a man can fulfill gods purpose is by being born from above. Marvel not that i said unto thee, ye must be born from above (RV mg). We have to be careful of the teaching which is built on the idea that Jesus Christ is a great, high and wonderful figure for us to imitate; there is no place in the new testament for that idea. Unless we come to know him as saviour we are left amazingly unsatisfieda beautiful influence, a wonderful life, that is all. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners. A sinner, i. E. One convicted of sin, is the only one who is in a fit state to understand why jesus came. When god became incarnate in Jesus Christ for the purpose of removing sin, men saw nothing in him to desire. Jesus Christ is disadvantaged in the eyes of everyone not convicted of sin: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him (RV); but when once the heart of a sinner is reached, that is a state of heart and mind able to understand why it was necessary for god to become incarnate. The worst state a man could be in is never to have had a twinge of conviction of sin, everything happy and peaceful, but absolutely dead to the realm of things Jesus represents.

3. Self-expenditure

For ye know the grace of our lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might become rich. (2 Corinthians 8:9 RV)

Grace is a theological word and is unfortunately used, because we usually mean by theology some- thing remote that has to do with controversy, some- thing whereby our mind is tied up in knots and our practical life left alone. In the bible theology is immensely practical. Grace means the overflowing nature of god; we see it in nature, we have no words to describe the lavishness of god. The grace of our lord Jesus Christ is the overflowing of gods nature in entire and absolute forgiveness through his own sacrifice. Do we discern that grace? We talk about the sacrifice of the son of god and forget that it was the sacrifice of god himself. God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself. .

. . That ye through his poverty might become rich. Rich in what? Not in possessions, but in personal identity. Our lord Jesus Christ became poor, not as an example, but to give us the secret of his religion. The religion of Jesus Christ is a religion of personal relationship to god and has nothing to do with possessions. Professional Christianity is a religion of possessions that are devoted to god. The disciple realises that his life does not consist in the abundance of things he possesses, because what we possess often possesses us we are possessed by possessions. This is mine, you must not touch it! When we become rich towards god it will show in the details of our actual life. Without shedding of blood is no remission, is true of the marvellous redemption of our lord Jesus, and true also of us as saints. The blood of the majority of Christians flows in hard cash. If ever we are to be loosened from the thing which keeps us poor in relation to god, we must shed our blood right out. As having nothing, and yet possessing all things. The poverty of gods children in all ages is a significant thing, and the poverty has to come through calamity.