Phil. 2 speaks of Jesus as being "in very nature God," truly divine, and pre-existent to the incarnation. It then goes on to speak of Jesus as divinity and humanity both, by self-emptying of the divine. The final three verses, Phil. 2:9-11, talk of Jesus as "exalted�to the highest place." In Christ, God emptied Himself, becoming truly human. But this is not the final word. Instead, God exalted Christ. Verses 9-11 show a resolution to the kenosis. Christ is not left in humbled human form, but instead, "at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, �and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord." The kenosis seen in Christ Jesus is asserted to be temporary. Christ is again revealed to be fully and completely divine, as He is recognized with "the name that is above all names." This understanding can be transferred to God's relationship to the world as well. God empties Himself in the interaction with His creation, but this will not always be the case. Paul describes the mystery of the end in 1 Corinthians 15, where he says, "the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality." Paul describes a fundamental change in the being of humanity. Elsewhere in 1 Corinthians, Paul describes the change of relationship between God and man, saying "then we shall see face to face �[and] know fully, even as [we are] fully known." God will not always be veiled, and His face hidden. Although kenosis typifies God's relationship with creation now, this will not always be the case, as Paul's eschatology (and Christology) implicates.
As Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 15, creation will be changed. There will be a fundamental alteration in the fabric of being, and the relationship of God to humanity. Polkinghorne writes that "the old creation is God's bringing into being a universe which is free to exist 'on its own', in the ontological space made available by the divine kenotic act of allowing the existence of something wholly other; the new creation is the divine redemption of the old." As Polkinghorne points out, kenosis typifies God's current interaction, in His gift of freedom, and it is the redemption of this free (but fallen) creation and the withdrawal of kenosis which will be the "end."
"Now we see but a poor reflection in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known." God is hidden, and is not completely revealed. Paul speaks of humanity's view of God as but a poor reflection in comparison to a "face to face" view. This is God's withdrawal or self-emptying in His relationship to creation. But as Paul implies, this is not the way the relationship will always be. Paul speaks of a "then" when God will be fully know. Kenosis describes this eschatological view as being the emptying of God, and then the restoration of God's fullness to human perception.
Polkinghorne writes that "The new creation represents the transformation of that universe when it enters freely into a new and closer relationship with its Creator, so that it becomes a totally sacramental world, suffused with the divine presence." The world, as described by Polkinghorne above, as well as Paul in 1 Corinthians 15, will be fundamentally changed with the change of God's relationship to humanity. Soteriology plays an important role in understanding eschatology in relation to humanity. A new, more complete relationship with God will not be for all humans. Revelation 20 speaks of God's judgment from the "great white throne." John proclaims that "If anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire." All people who are not saved, who do not have God's gift of salvation, are thrown with the devil into the lake of fire. This is eternal torment, separated from God. It is only those saved by the blood of Christ who will be given a new, closer relationship to Christ. This is the soteriological eschatology of believers.
A loud voice proclaims from the throne, "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God�, for the old order of things has passed away." A new, closer relationship to God will be given to those in heaven. This is not to assert that people become gods, or become assimilated in some way into God, but instead, humans enter a relationship with God in which God is un-emptied, and His fullness is revealed. C.S. Lewis, in The Great Divorce, pens his view of heaven and hell. One believer in heaven proclaims, "I am full now, not empty. I am in Love Himself, not lonely." When God ceases to empty Himself, God will no longer be in a kenotic, veiled relationship to believers, but instead, will be in a full, close relationship with the redeemed.
The eschatological implications of kenosis fit in directly with the assertion of kenosis in God's relationship to the world through Jesus Christ, as it is set forth in Philippians 2. In the same way, eschatology is related to God's relationship to creation, and God's relationship to humanity as seen in the discussion of soteriology. An eschatological filling is the logical fulfillment of God's kenotic relationship to humanity and to the world. A lot of Christians have spilt a lot of ink thinking over the end times and what eschatological fulfillment will look like. Here kenotic theology allows us to lay down a foundation for understanding what God's eschatological fulfillment may mean. |
