In Philippians 2:6-8, Paul says that Jesus “emptied Himself” of His divinity or “equality with God,” and that He became “a man.” Jesus Himself in His teachings, made claims to divinity (John 8:58; 20:28). How can Jesus be God if He emptied His divinity when becoming man?

– Asher, India

DR. GEORGY’S RESPONSE:

The incarnation of Jesus was not the removal of His divinity, but the addition of humanity. In addition to being God, He also took a human nature. This text explains a few things substantiating this. First, the text clearly says that He was “in the form of God” (Phil. 2:6). As “the form of a bondservant” has a servant nature, “the form of God” has a divine nature. Second, the text does not say Jesus emptied Himself of His divinity. He merely gave up His privileges as God, “taking the form of a bondservant” (Phil. 2:7), so that He will be an example for us (Phil. 2:5). Third, the text says that every knee will bow before Him and every tongue will confess that “Jesus Christ is Lord” (Phil. 2:9-11), which is a quotation from Isaiah 45:23 where it refers to Yahweh God. Therefore, Jesus is 100 percent God and 100 percent man.