He emptied himself
The self-emptying God
Paul quotes what may be the earliest Christian hymn to describe the most staggering act of humility in the universe. Christ, though he existed in the form of God and did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. The infinite God did not clutch his rights and glory; he let them go, and became small.
The word emptied is breathtaking. The One who was full of all the glory of God poured himself out, set aside the privileges that were rightfully his, and took the form of a servant. He did not consider his equality with God something to be exploited for his own advantage, but used his very divinity as the occasion for the lowest self-giving. The death of self has its origin and pattern not in human striving but in the heart of God himself.
This transforms everything. When we are called to empty ourselves, to lay down our rights and status, we are not being asked to do something foreign to God, something he merely demands of us from on high. We are being invited to share the very disposition of God, who emptied himself first. The self-emptying we resist as loss is, in fact, the deepest expression of the divine nature. To die to self is to become like the God who poured himself out — and there is nothing more godlike than that.
“He emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men.”
— Paul, to the Philippians — Philippians 2:7 (WEB)
Embrace self-emptying as the very heart of God — sharing the disposition of the Christ who poured himself out — rather than resisting it as a foreign demand.
“Who, existing in the form of God, didn't consider it robbery to be equal with God.”
We hear the call to empty ourselves as something handed down from a God who would never stoop to it himself — a demand, not an example. Paul's hymn dismantles that picture: the most staggering self-emptying in all of reality is God's own. The interior work is to let that truth reframe the surrender entirely, so that laying down a right or a privilege is no longer felt as a foreign imposition but as the most godlike act available to us — sharing the very disposition of the Christ who poured himself out.
This week, where you are clutching a right, a privilege, or your status, deliberately empty yourself of it as Christ did: let it go, take the lower place, and recognize the surrender as becoming like the God who poured himself out.
Self-interest paints every emptying as pure loss and a rule pressed on us from outside, so we clutch our rights and brace against the surrender. But the soul that pours itself out as Christ did discovers it is sharing the heart of God himself — becoming most like him at the exact point the flesh swore it was losing everything.
We tend to experience the call to empty ourselves — to lay down our rights, status, and self-interest — as a demand imposed on us from outside, something God requires but would never do himself. Paul's hymn shatters that assumption. The most staggering act of self-emptying in the universe is God's own: Christ, full of divine glory, poured himself out and took the form of a servant. Self-emptying is not foreign to God; it is the very heart of God.
This transforms the death of self from a grim demand into a sharing of the divine nature. When we let go of our rights and become small, we are not doing something God merely asks of us; we are becoming like the God who emptied himself first. The self-emptying we resist as loss turns out to be the most godlike thing a person can do. Consider that the very surrender you have been resisting is the deepest expression of the character of God, who poured himself out for you.
- Do I experience self-emptying as a demand imposed from outside?
- Can I see it as sharing the very disposition of God?
- What right or status am I clutching that Christ would have me empty?
Lord, I resist self-emptying as a foreign demand and pure loss. But you, full of glory, emptied yourself and took the form of a servant. Let me share your disposition, lay down what I clutch, and find that pouring myself out is the most godlike thing I can do. Amen.