The Incarnation and Kenosis of Christ

I- Introduction

The Incarnation and Kenosis: Two Central Doctrines of Christology

The Incarnation and the Kenosis of Christ are two inseparable doctrines of Christology, the theological discipline that studies the person and work of Jesus Christ.

For us Christians, Jesus is both fully human and fully divine. Our Christian faith is fundamentally based on this concept of “God incarnate in the flesh,” as these biblical passages attest:

• John 1:1 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”.
• John 1:14 “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.”.

The Incarnation: God Made Man

Our Christian belief refers to “God became man in the person of Jesus Christ”. This is a fundamental and central doctrine of Christianity, known as the Incarnation.

The Incarnation is a central mystery of the Christian faith, inviting profound reflection on the nature of God, the human condition, and the relationship between the divine and the human.

Kenosis: The Stripping of Self

The expression “God became incarnate as a man” also means that “God stripped himself of his divine glory by taking on a human nature”. It is on this notion of “God stripped himself” that the concept of Kenosis, a biblical term taken from the Epistle to the Philippians, is based.

Kenosis expresses that the Son of God, in His incarnation, stripped Himself of His divine privileges and attributes to make Himself like men and save them.


Let us pray: Oh Lord, Almighty God, thank you for the incarnation of your beloved Son, the source of our salvation. Grant us the wisdom to be humble of heart and mind.

In the name of Christ! Amen!

II- Reflection

II.1 Incarnation of Christ

Before we delve into the subject in detail, let us explore two main points that are essential to understanding the reason for the Incarnation of Christ:

II.1-1 Humanity’s Rescue Plan, After the Fall of Man

The Divine Plan: From the Fall of Man to Redemption

We know that the fall of man is manifested by Adam’s original sin. In the face of this fall, which God foresaw, He also had a plan of redemption. This plan was part of His overall strategy to reveal His glory and love through the salvation offered in Christ.

In short, the fall of man and the salvation of humanity are intrinsic elements of God’s overall plan.

II.1-2 Roles of the Trinity

The Trinity: One God in Three Persons

In Christianity, the Trinity is defined as “God, One in essence and Three in person”: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. These three persons are equal and share the same divine substance.

None of us can fathom the depths of the Trinity exhaustively, but we can progress little by little toward a better understanding.

Understanding Relationships Within the Trinity

It is essential that we understand the meaning of the appellations “the Father” and “the Son”. These two terms, used for God and Christ, can be compared to the words that human beings use to help us understand the relationship between the different persons of the Trinity. If we can understand the relationship between a human father and his son, then we can broadly understand the relationship between the first and second persons of the Trinity. However, this comparison must stop there; let us not push it further. These two words are therefore used in a relational sense.

A Founding Principle of the Christian Faith

Belief in the Trinity is the founding principle common to the major Christian denominations. The concept of the “Trinity” does not appear explicitly in the New Testament, but the three persons are named and manifest themselves repeatedly. For Christian theology, these three persons, or hypostases, are the one God (a single essence or substance). The three persons are interdependent and in a permanent relationship from all eternity through a relationship called perichoresis. This is a consubstantial union where the three persons form a single substance in an unceasing movement of love, by which “God the Son is united in essence with God the Father and God the Holy Spirit”.

Note: Perichoresis expresses the idea that the three Persons of the Trinity dwell in one another, without merging or separating.

Love, Heart of the Trinity

The statement “God is love” offers a profound explanation of the “Triune God” and his concept of “Three in One”. It takes more than one person to show and express love. God is love because He is Trinity: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, three persons united in mutual and eternal love, as C.S. Lewis and Dr. Feddes have emphasized.

Redemption: A Trinitarian Work

Salvation is the work of these three persons acting together. James Packer explains: “The Father conceived the plan of redemption, the Son carried it out, and the Spirit works to put it into practice in the lives of men—that is, He applies the work of Christ to believers”.

RC Sproul confirms this view by stating: “Most importantly, redemption is a Trinitarian work. The Father sent the Son into the world (1 John 4:14). The Son accomplished all the work necessary for our salvation—by living a life of perfect obedience and dying to obtain perfect satisfaction for us (Philippians 3:9; 1 Corinthians 15:3). But all these things are of no use to us unless they apply to us personally. Therefore, the Father and the Son sent the Holy Spirit into the world to grant us salvation (John 15:26; Galatians 4:6)”.

The Incarnation of Christ: A Manifestation of Divine Love

To fulfill the plan of redemption, the Son had to become incarnate as a man. To do this, Jesus left his proper place. Thus, Jesus, the Son of God, a member of the Trinity in deep communion with the Father and the Holy Spirit from eternity, in a way left His kingdom to come into our world. Let us meditate on this essential point: “God left His kingdom to come into our world”.

The Incarnation of God into man involves several fundamental aspects:

• Union of the “Divine and Human Natures”: Jesus Christ is both fully God and fully man. This union of the two natures – Divinity and Humanity – in one person is a central mystery of the Christian faith.
• Hypostatic Union: This union is often described as “hypostatic”, meaning that the two natures coexist without mixing or separating.
• Revelation of God through Manifestation of Divine Love: The Incarnation reveals God’s infinite love for humanity. By becoming human, God shows that He is willing to share the human condition to save mankind.
• Revelation of Divine Nature: Jesus Christ, as God incarnate, fully reveals the nature and will of God. His teachings, actions, and life are considered the ultimate revelation of God.
• Redemption and Salvation: Christ is the Savior of humanity. The Incarnation is seen as an act of redemption. By taking human form, Jesus Christ was able to suffer and die for the sins of humanity, thus offering salvation and reconciliation with God.
• Sacrifice and Resurrection: The death and resurrection of Jesus Christ are the central events of the Christian faith, made possible by the Incarnation.
• Model of Life and Example to Follow: Jesus Christ, as God incarnate, is also a model of life for Christians. His teachings on love, forgiveness, justice, and compassion are fundamental principles of the Christian life.

Thus, the Incarnation enhances the human condition by showing that God Himself chose to become man, thus elevating the dignity of every human being.

II.2- Kenosis of Christ

The Kenosis of Christ: Voluntary Self-Avoidance and Divine Humility

The doctrine of kenosis refers to the self-emptying of Christ at the time of His incarnation. In theology, kenosis, derived from the Greek kenosis (κένωσις), means “emptying” or “stripping”. It is a theological concept that postulates that Jesus emptied Himself in order to fully live out His humanity and accomplish the work of redemption. The phrase “God became incarnate as a man” also means that “God emptied Himself of His divine glory by taking on a human nature”.

The key passage on kenosis is found in Philippians 2:6-8

“⁶ Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; ⁷ rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. ⁸ And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross!”.

Theological Debates Around Kenosis

The “kenosis of Christ” or the idea that Jesus emptied himself, has been a source of theological debate, particularly concerning the nature of Christ’s divinity and humanity.

Arianism is a striking example of a view rejecting the full divinity of Christ. This Christological doctrine, originating with the Alexandrian theologian priest Arius, rejects the traditional doctrine of the Trinity and regards Jesus as a creation of God, not God Himself, but only as a holy man. John Piper has detailed Arius’s heretical ideas. A major point Arius used to support his claim was the biblical verse Colossians 1:15 “The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.”.  However, this is a grossly literal interpretation that isolates a single verse from the Bible, ignoring the context and the author’s intention to support preconceived ideas. When Paul states that all things were made through Him and for Him in Colossians 1:16, “For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him.“, he confirms the supreme role of Jesus as the Son of God over all creation. The phrase “the firstborn of all creation” emphasizes and expresses the unique position of Jesus as sovereign Lord, Son of God, and redeemer of humanity. Jesus occupies the position of ultimate honor and holds divine power over the entire created order. Everything in creation was made by Jesus and for Jesus. Jesus has primacy over all creation, He is above every created thing, not that He Himself was created.

The Interpretation of “Stripping”

The controversy lies mainly in the interpretation of the expression “He emptied Himself.”

Note that Philippians 2:7 does not specify what the Son of God “emptied” Himself. It is essential to be careful not to go beyond what Scripture says. Jesus did not emptied Himself of His divine attributes. None of these attributes are mentioned in the verse, and it is clear from the Gospels that Jesus possessed the power and wisdom of God.

Philippians 2:7-8 clearly suggests that “emptying” refers to Jesus’ humility and obedience rather than a loss of divine attributes.

Dr. Feddes uses the concept of “kenosis” to describe the self-emptying of Jesus Christ, emphasizing His humility and the voluntary limitation of His divine power and glory on behalf of humanity. According to James Packer, Jesus’ limitations are seen as a submission to the Father’s will, not as a renunciation of His divinity.

The Kenosis of Christ: Self-denial and Acquisition

Below we present the kenosis of Christ based as much as possible on biblical passages, a position close to that of James Packer in his book Knowing God.

The kenosis of Christ, which refers to Christ’s self-denial at the time of His incarnation, is a denial of self, not a denial of His divinity, nor an exchange of divinity for humanity. Jesus renounced His own authority during His ministry on earth and submitted entirely to the will of the Father. The kenosis of Christ is not limited to “self-denial”; it is also about what He acquired:

• He received human nature and humbled Himself.
• He passed from supreme glory in heaven to a human life that ended on the cross.

The voluntary self-abasement of Jesus Christ described by the doctrine of kenosis does not weaken the divinity of Jesus Christ. It affirms that Jesus, although fully God, chose to voluntarily limit himself in order to become incarnate as a human being. Jesus chose to live as a human being, with all the limitations and suffering, while remaining sinless.

In his book Knowing God, James Packer clarifies that kenosis does not mean that Jesus abandoned His divinity, but rather that He voluntarily gave up the independent use of His divine attributes. In other words, Jesus chose to live in total dependence on the Father and the Holy Spirit during His earthly ministry.

Christ claimed that His teaching came from God and that He Himself was only the messenger of His Father (John 7:16; 8:28; 12:49-50).

• Sometimes Jesus had limited knowledge of human and divine matters. For example, He sometimes asked questions like, “Who touched my clothes?” (Mark 5:30), “How many loaves do you have?” (Mark 6:38). He acknowledged that He did not know the day set for His return (Mark 13:32).
• Sometimes He shows supernatural knowledge. He occasionally manifests supernatural power by performing miracles: He heals diseases, feeds crowds, and raises the dead. For example: He knows the troubled past of the Samaritan woman (John 4:17-18), He knows, without anyone telling Him, that Lazarus is dead (John 11:11-12). When Peter goes fishing, He says that the first fish he catches will have a coin in its mouth (Matthew 17:27), etc.

This gives us the impression:

• That Jesus was not entirely destitute of that knowledge and power which belong to God, and
• That His divine power was deliberately controlled and restrained.

The Gospel of John repeatedly explains this restraint by the Son’s complete submission to the Father’s will (John 5:19; 3:30; 6:38; 8:28-29). It is in the nature of the second person of the Trinity to recognize the authority of the first person and to submit to His good pleasure. What Jesus knew, like everything He did, was in accordance with His Father’s will. This is why, for example, if Jesus did not know the date of His return, it was not because He had, at the time of His incarnation, renounced the power to know all things, but because His Father did not want Him, on this earth, to know this date before the Passion.

John Calvin commented that the knowledge in Mark 13:32 was not given to Jesus until His mediatorial task was fully accomplished, but was given to Him after His resurrection. Thus, if Jesus had only limited knowledge of things, it was not because of His incarnation but because of His Father’s will for Him while on earth.

As for Jesus’ relationship with the Holy Spirit, Jesus Himself was filled with the Holy Spirit, as seen in the Gospels, and the Holy Spirit guided Him in His earthly ministry.

III- Conclusion

The Incarnation and Kenosis: Foundations of the Christian Faith

The Incarnation and Kenosis of Christ are central doctrines of the Christian faith. They are essential because they:

• Reveal the nature and character of God, as well as His plan of salvation for humanity.
• Highlight the depth of God’s love and sacrifice for humanity, while emphasizing the full divinity and humanity of Jesus Christ.
• Illustrate the grace and mercy of God, who became man to save humanity and offer a perfect model of Christian life based on humility, service and obedience.

The Attitude of Christ: An Unparalleled Model

Bill Crowder, Vice President of Corporate Content at “Our Daily Bread Ministries” describes the characteristics of Jesus Christ, God incarnate, as being radically different from our usual human reactions. In particular, he highlights:

• A selfless attitude.
• A sacrificial attitude.
• A servant’s attitude.
• A humble attitude.
• An attitude of obedience.
• An attitude of patience and perseverance.

Bill Crowder then invites us to reflect: Would adopting Christ’s attitude toward those around us make us appear hypocritical or overly pious? Or would it be a moment of wisdom and kindness that we would never regret later?

Jesus Christ, as fully man and fully God, offers a perfect model of Christian life based on humility, service, obedience, and love.

May the mystery and spirit of the Incarnation and Kenosis of Christ inspire us and strengthen us in our faith in Jesus Christ.

Let us pray: Oh! Heavenly Father! You so loved the world. Thank you for sending your Son Jesus to show us the way and to die for our sins.

In the name of Christ! Amen!