Sunday Study Guide:
Christ Emptied (Philippians 2:5-11)
Teaching Outline:
Stanza 1. Christ in God Form (v.6)
Stanza 2. Christ in Human Form (v.6-8)
1. Christ willingly chose not to cling to His divine advantages
2. Christ willingly chose to empty Himself
3. Christ willingly chose the form of a servant
4. Christ willingly chose our likeness
5. Christ willingly chose death
Stanza 3. Christ in God Exalted Human Form (v.9-11)
Key points:
1. Christ's Divine Nature Was Never Emptied
The Kenotic Act was not an emptying of Christ's divinity or divine nature. Christ remained fully God during the incarnation. Rather, He emptied Himself of His metaphysical privileges—His omnipresence, omnipotence, omniscience, and divine glory—while maintaining His divine essence.
2. Christ Willingly Chose Self-Emptying
The emptying was a voluntary, deliberate choice made by Christ Himself (active voice in Greek). He was not forced into incarnation, nor was it the only way He could have come. Christ chose to surrender His divine privileges to fully experience human limitation and suffering.
3. Christ Took the Form of a Servant
Rather than coming in human privilege, comfort, or wealth, Christ deliberately chose to come as a bondservant—poor, despised, rejected, and without human rights or dignity. He lived a more humble and difficult life than most of humanity.
4. Christ's Humiliation Led to His Exaltation
The culmination of Christ's self-emptying was His death on the cross—the most humiliating death of His time. Through this death, He conquered death itself, defeated sin, and broke the power of the devil, making possible the salvation of all humanity.
5. Christ's Example Calls Us to Humility and Obedience
The passage begins with "Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus," calling believers to adopt Christ's attitude of humility, servanthood, and willing obedience to God. This is not merely theological knowledge but a call to transformed living.
Key Bible Verses
- Philippians 2:5-11 (NKJV) — "Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God; but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name..."
Christ's Eternal Divinity:
- John 1:1 — "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God."
- Colossians 1:15 — "Jesus is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation."
- Hebrews 1:3 — "Jesus is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of God's nature."
Christ's Voluntary Humiliation:
- 2 Corinthians 8:9 — "For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich."
- Isaiah 53:2-3 — "He has no form or comeliness; And when we see Him, There is no beauty that we should desire Him. He is despised and rejected by men, A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief."
- Hebrews 2:14-17 — "Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death... Therefore, in all things He had to be made like His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest."
- Hebrews 4:15 — "For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin."
- Luke 2:52 — "And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men."
Christ's Submission to the Father:
- John 5:19 — "The Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner."
- Mark 13:32 — "But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father."
Christ's Death and Victory:
- Romans 6:9-10 — "Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him. For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God."
- Hebrews 2:14-15 — "Through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage."
- 1 Corinthians 15:54-57 — "Death is swallowed up in victory... But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ."
- Revelation 1:18 — "I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death."
Questions for Devotion and Family Worship:
1. What does the Greek word "Kenosis" mean?
2. Did Christ empty Himself of His divine nature or His divine privileges? Explain the difference.
3. Name three of the five metaphysical privileges Christ emptied Himself of during the incarnation.
4. According to Philippians 2:6, why did Christ NOT consider it robbery to be equal with God?
5. What form did Christ take when He came to earth, and why is this significant?
6. In what ways did Christ experience human limitation during His earthly ministry?
7. Why was it necessary for Christ to be fully God and fully human at the same time?
8. What does it mean that Christ "humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross"?
9. How did Christ's death on the cross accomplish more than just experiencing human suffering?
10. According to the teaching, what is the relationship between Christ's emptying Himself and His exaltation in Philippians 2:9-11?
