Kenosis

The ancient Greek word κένωσις, Kénōsis means an “emptying”, from κενός, kenos “to empty”. What was in all probability an early Christian hymn, the text of Philippians 2:5-11 is worth recording here.

⁵ Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus,
⁶ who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, ⁷ but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. ⁸ And being found in human form he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, . ⁹ Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name which is above every name, ¹⁰ that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, ¹¹ and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Kénōsis was Christ’s self-emptying, a self-renunciation, not an emptying Himself of deity nor an exchange of deity for humanity. In Philippians 2:7, “Jesus made himself nothing (κένωσε, ekénōse) …” or “…he emptied himself…” using the verb form κενόω, kenóō “to empty”. Kénōsis is to be balanced with the doctrine of Hypostatic Union, that Jesus is both fully God and fully man and did not give up any divine attributes while as a man on earth.

The LOGO therefore is an amalgamation and a merger of these two extremes:

The Crown of Gold symbolizes and represents the Divine God of the universe. The Crown of Thorns signifies and characterizes Him becoming a human being to die for His creation, and that nothing can quench His determination to make man live life holistically and abundantly, and gave His life for us in order to realize this purpose.

The prince of paradox, G K. Chesterton (1874 -1936) observed ‘The cross cannot be defeated, for it is defeat.’ Christ set aside His heavenly glory of a face-to-face relationship with God. He also set aside His independent authority. During His earthly ministry, Christ completely submitted Himself to the will of the Father.

Kenotic Christology, therefore, is Christ taking on human nature with all of its limitations, except with no sin.

A strand of gold is maintained in the midst of those jagged brown spiking barbs indicating Gods uninterrupted deity.

In the Creed of Chalcedon the early fathers affirmed that Christ “must be acknowledged in two natures, without any commingling, or change, or division or separation“. The cross was God’s way of uniting suffering with love.

Oswald Chambers (1874-1917) prominent twentieth century Scottish Protestant minister, expressively remarks: All heaven is engrossed in the cross of Christ, all hell is terribly afraid of it, while men are the only beings who more or less ignore its meaning. In the ultimate act of humility, the God of the universe came down to earth and died for His creation. As someone once observed “He came to pay a debt He didn’t owe because we owed a debt we couldn’t pay.”

German-born theoretical physicist, best known for his theory of relativity, who received the 1921 Nobel Prize in Physics, Albert Einstein after studying the life of Christ and the dogmas of the church assiduously observed “I want to know the cross…the rest are details”.

Mystical theologian, renowned for his cooperation with prominent Spanish mystic monastic reformer Teresa of Avila (1515-1582) in the reformation of the Carmelite order and a major figure in the Catholic Reformation, John of the Cross’ (1542 – 1591) work “Dark Night of the Soul” is a particularly lucid explanation of God’s continual process of transforming his followers into the icon or “likeness of Christ” in acts of such self-emptying and self-renunciational humility.True servanthood empties self. As another prominent medieval mystic, Madame Guyoung noted ‘God gives us the Cross; the Cross gives us God’. Furthermore English philosopher James Martineau (1805 – 1900) so plainly capsules it “Kénōsis is true, not of Christ exclusively, but of Man universally, and God everlastingly”.

Kenosis Ministries works alongside the following

Churches and Christian organizations:

Christian Denominations Churches/ Organizations Church of South India Eaton Memorial CSI Church, Kadugodi CSI Church, Whitefield Memorial CSI Church, St Johns CSI Church, St Andrews CSI Church, Bethel CSI Church, St Peters CSI Church Roman Catholic Church St Francis Xavier Church Baptist Church Bethel Fellowship Church El Bethel International Church Emmanuel Baptist Church Hope Baptist Church Methodist Church Richmond Town Methodist Church, Indiranagar Methodist Church Marthoma Orthodox Church Primrose Road Marthoma Church Pentecostal Church Garden City Assemblies of God Independent Church Indian Gospel Cathedral Kirubha Allayal Bellary Mission Church Davangere Bible Fellowship Bethel Fellowship Peniel Gospel Church Suzanne Memorial Church Javalligere Gospel Prayer Faith Calvary Church Shalom Evangelical Church Grace Bible Association Hope Church of God Honsenahalli House of Prayer Indian Gospel Cathedral Kirubha Allayal Bellary Mission Church Davangere Bible Fellowship Fathers Mansion Church Kasthurinagar Prayer Fellowship
Kenosis Center for Mission and Evangelism, KCMC serves as a catalyst for mobilizing, resourcing and training India’s churches and ministries to reach the unreached and the unreached people groups of the world. We long to see every Church in India working in partnership, both locally and globally, to reach the unreached for the Glory of God and in obedience to the Great Commission. http://wesley.veda.googlepages.com Rev. Wesley Jacob, Executive Director Dr. T Devarajan, Chairman and Managing Trustee