ICENOSIS (Gr. nivonrts, ken'ii-sis), a Greek term signifying the act of ernptying, or self divesture. It is employed to express the volun tary humiliation of Christ. It is borrowed from the expression of Paul, "But made himself of no reputation," &Loin, 6thnocre, emptied himself (Phil. ii:7).
Tile New Testament teaching upon this point may be arranged under five heads: (t) The virginal conception and birth (Matthew and Luke) ; (2) The pempsis, or mission from the Father (Jesus, John and Paul) ; (3) The parousia, or coming out of the preexistent state of glory, into the world (Jesus and John) ; (4) The as sumption of the flesh (John and Paul) ; (5) The Kenosts or self-emptying of the Logos (Paul).
It is true that these classes overlap, but the arrangement has the recommendation of clearness and convenience.
(1) The first class of passages records the An nunciation, Conception and Birth (Matt. i:x8-24; Luke i :26-38; ii:t-to). There is little to add to the Biblical narratives, which are straightforward ac counts of historical events. All that we can say is that the conception and birth are both (to us) miraculous, nor can human analogy help us much, as conception, the ultimate fact of human biology, is unexplained and probably unexplainable. And if we thus come—even in a matter of everyday occurrence, and of such apparent simplietty—to the limit of human knowledge, how can we ex plain the mysteries of a purely spiritual con ception? All that we learn from the account contained in the gospels is the fact that he was "conceived of the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin 3.1ary." What is important for us is the fact that he whom these two gospels regard as the Son of the liv ing God was born of woman.
This is asserted also in Paul's statement : "When the fullness of time was come, God sent forth IIis Son made of a woman," etc. (Gal. iv :4)• That the Son of God in becoming the Son of man should submit himself to the regular human method of coming into the world is one of the most sublime proofs of his loving condescension to us. Yet one thing we must not forget,—that
this family into which he was born was, on both sides, of royal stock, both Joseph and Mary being descendants of king David. This was a neces sity, for the Messiah of prophecy was the descendant of David, born in the royal city of Bethlehem. The attendant circumstances of deep poverty serve to emphasize the humiliation of our Savior; surely. he who was rich for our sakes be came poor (2 Cor. viii:9).
(2) The second class of passages refers to the pentpsis the Mission of the Son from and by the Father. Christ here represents his coming as an act dependent upon the will of the Father who sent him. The Father sends, the Son comes, as is attested by numerous passages in the gospel according to John (John iv:34; v:23; vi:39, etc.). The same aspect of his coming is presented in John 111:16 and the Apostle Paul tells us that, "when the fullness of time was come, God sent forth His Son" (Gal. iv:4).
(3) The third class of passages is that large one in which Jesus refers to his coming. The most important of course are those which report his own words. "I am come in the name of my Father" (John v :43).
"For the bread of God is he that cometh down from heaven" (John vi:33). "For I am come forth from God" (John viii:42).
"And now, 0 Fathcr, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was" (John xvii:5).
In the prologue to his gospel (i:i-t8) John affirms both the preexistence and the Divinity of the Logos. It is here distinctly. stated the Divine Logos, who was in a preexistent state with God (a state which, as we learned from John xvii:5, was a state of glory) when he had assumed flesh, became as one of us, making this world his temporary abiding place. Though the method of transition is not directly stated, yet this text teaches as does John xvii :5, a coming out of this preexistent state of glory, into the earthly life with all that implies.