Ekenosen

In a classic passage in Philippians 2, Paul describes Jesus, who "though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to.  Instead, he gave up
his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being" (verses 6 and 7).  The phrase "gave up his divine privileges" (New Living Translation) is from the Greek word "ekenosen" and means "he emptied (himself)."  Paul was describing the self-giving of the Son of God, who was willing to become human -- with immeasurably fewer privileges than his existence in eternity -- in order to bring all humanity into fellowship with himself. 

Without going into all the technical dynamics, (if you want more, visit http://thesurprisinggodblog.gci.org) I'll just say today that this self-emptying isn't a new thing with God.  In the biblical descriptions of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit showing the Triune nature of God, this self-giving is the core of God's being.  In John's Gospel, especially, the Father is shown as being "in" Jesus and vice versa (John 10:38 and 14:10, for instance) -- and the Greek means, literally, "in" as a position relative to the other.  Jesus says "The Spirit...will not speak on his own, but will tell you what he has heard...All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will receive from me what he will make known to you” in 16:13-15.  These sayings tells us that the Father has given -- sent out from himself -- all himself to the Son, and that the Son also gives himself to the Spirit who passes that on to us.

In these and many other scripture passages -- too many to list today -- the nature of God is described, to put it most simply, as "giving".  So for the Son of God to give of himself, becoming human to save us, is to continue the giving nature of who God is, this time toward us.  "For God loved the world in this way: He gave His One and Only Son..." in John 3:16 -- that is the reason we note and celebrate the coming of the Son of God in the flesh (John 1:14) at this time of year. 

The question is, will "ekenosen" describe you and me too?  Will we give "all that we have" to God, so we have room to receive all he gives us?  Or will we continue to be self-absorbed, self-actualized, self-willed and full of ourselves?  God leaves us that choice, because he won't force his love on us.  But the offer has already been made; the Son of God has already given himself for you.  How much of him will you accept?