No Reputation

"But made Himself
of no reputation
and took upon
Him the form
of a servant, and
was made in
the likeness of men.
And being found in
fashion as a man,
He humbled Himself,
and became obedient
unto death, even the death
 of a cross." Phil. 2:7-9


I heard a message on the cost of Christmas to Christ today. And it made me think of how Christ made Himself of no reputation. Looking up the Greek word for "no reputation," I found it was the word is transliterated kenoō. 
The word means, in relationship to Christ, that He laid aside equality with or the form of God, according to the Greek lexicon #2758. https://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=G2758&t=KJV

This was unprecedented. To consider that God the Son realized that He must one day be separated from God His Father and leave the place He had dwelt in for all of eternity past, this is what it meant to have emptied Himself. To give up all the prerogatives He had to use His own deity, and limit Himself to becoming one like us, feeling hunger and cold and poverty. Hi suffering as a man for the sins of all people is what the Kenosis of Christ is all about.

No one ever limited themselves in the way He did so that He could reconcile us to Himself. The One who put the universe together was not welcomed by mankind. He had to be born in a stable and placed in an animals feeding trough.
Has it changed so much today? Christ still is not welcomed by most of the people on this planet. Even those of us who claim to know Him can be like Peter and deny Him in the face of opposition.
Even saying His name is becoming more and more dangerous. Why? Because He is the Son of God, and the enemy of the god of this world.

Two thousand years since He made His first appearance, and for the most part, Christ is not welcomed by the very people He came to die for. If that happened to me, if I were to make a sacrifice of my life for others and found that they did not even appreciate it, I would probably say, "Well, forget them!"
But not Christ. He thought little of the shame He would endure as He hung naked on the cross for the sins of all mankind. He instead was thinking of all the ones He would be able to call brethren after He completed His perfect sacrifice.

"looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God." Hebrews 12:2

It wasn't because He found something attractive in us that He condescended in such a way. It was rather, because His very nature was to love even those that would nail Him to the cross.
So it is today. There are many who still call His name as a curse word, many who hate Him and all that He stands for. Do you think He wants to smash them? No, He gives us a chance to believe in Him every single day of our entire life.
Even if you previously hated Him, it is not too late for you, or anyone, to  change your mind today. Believe on Jesus Christ as the Son of God who took away the sins of the world. That is what the real celebration is all about. That is why the enemy tries to distract from reflecting on what the First Advent of Chist is and make it into a marketing frenzy, and have children occupied with Santa, not Christ.

But there is coming a day when...
"... at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven or on earth or under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." Phil. 2: 10-11

 Every eye will see Him for who He really is, no longer a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes but the Son of Man coming back with His angels to reclaim the planet that mankind lost. In that day, the One who made Himself of no reputation will be exalted to His rightful place: the King of Kings and Lord of Lords!

Oh, Come let us adore Him!

I once took a Bible study course called The Way of Agape, based on the book by Mrs. Nancy Missler. Learning the definition of agape of in I Corinthians 13 caught me up short on the difference between God's love and human love.We are told in Isa. 55:8 "For My thoughts [are] not your thoughts, Nor [are] your ways My ways," says the LORD.

How I could meditate on that one verse for a lifetime, especially in regard to God's agape love versus my own human love. My human love, oh how it falls so very short of God's kind of love.


The very best human love is no match for God's love. If you really want to know what God's love is like you need look no further than Jesus. Sometimes, when we do something nice, we may be tempted to think that we have pleased God because of that. But if we are not fulfilling I Corinthians 13 perfectly, then we need the rightousness of Another. Thank God there is One who did fulfill it perfectly on our behalf, and offers His own righteousness as a free gift. (II Corinthians 5: 21)



Now we are in the supposed "season of good cheer." It saddens me though as I see the twinkle of lights, the glitter, the rush in finding the perfect present. Is this the way to find and give agape love? It always reminds me of a kind of desperation. The days of December on my part of the planet are short, gloomy and dark. Men seem to try to comfort themselves in the giving of gifts, feasting and decorating.

Is that what its all about? Or is agape about the Kenosis of the Savior?

Consider Philippians 2: 3-11:

3 Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. 4 Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others. 5 Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, 7 but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men, 8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of a cross.
9 Therefore God has highly exalted HIM and given HIM the name which is above every name, 10 that at the name of JESUS every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is LORD, to the glory of God the Father.

In verse 6 of Philippians 2 we hear of the kenosis of Christ, which comes from the root word kenoo (#2756). From the Blue Letter Bible study helps, we see that the Strong's definition of this word means to:


1) to empty, make empty

a) of Christ, he laid aside equality with or the form of God

That is our example, our role model. He didn't think about Himself. Ahhh, so very much unlike me, whose first thought is for her own comfort.

As He lay in the manger, He was holding the molecules together that kept the universe in existence, yet He chose to limit Himself to being a baby. He chose to feel the things we feel: hunger, pain, betrayal, loneliness, all the sufferings of being a human on this tiny planet spinning in the universe. He had to leave the adoration of all the angels and the love of His Father, and He chose to do so, for our sakes, willingly.

His thoughts are not our thoughts. His love is not human love. Oh, to know Him (Phil. 3:10) and to show that kind of love to others. My life is in vain if that is not my daily aspiration.

In John 6: 67, it says:"Then Jesus said to the twelve,"Do you also want to go away?'"

68 But Simon Peter answered Him, "Lord, to whom shall we go, You have the words of eternal life."

He alone has the words of eternal life. As we take in His Words and make them a part of us, may His thoughts become our thoughts, so that out of our hearts shall flow
rivers of living water. (John 7: 38)

It is so very right to sing: "Oh, come let us adore HIM!"