Upvote:0
One analogy I have heard goes something like this:
The founder and owner of a large manufacturing firm, desiring to "stay in touch" with the operation of his plant, disguises himself as a newly hired and lowly line worker at his own company. There, without ever abdicating his ownership and ultimate sovereignty over the whole thing, he punches the time clock, learns the job, works the line, goes on break, obeys his supervisor (and by extension, himself), receives compensation, etc.
The man is for a time, both owner and hireling. He both is the boss and has a boss. If he is exceptionally good at his effort then the only ones who become privy are those who know him personally or those to whom he reveals himself.
Obviously, like every other analogy, this can only be pushed so far.
Upvote:3
Jesus “made himself nothing” (Philippians 2:7 NIV). When He came to earth “he gave up his divine privileges” (NLT). Jesus had to enter this world incognito, "his glory veiled". There were brief occasions when the disciples were enabled to glimpse that glory, as at his transfiguration.
He veiled His glory, and He chose to occupy the position of a slave. The kenosis was a self-renunciation, not an emptying Himself of deity. Christians who believe the incarnation, that Jesus was fully divine as well as fully human, understand this emptying took place when the Word or Logos of God agreed to give up the glory he had in heaven and condescended to “become a little lower than the angels” and took on human form. This required humility and obedience, even to death on a cross. Christ’s “emptying” of Himself was the laying aside of the privileges of divinity, not divinity itself. The verb form κενόω (kenóō) means "to empty".
There are unbiblical views of kenosis, and I hesitate to draw attention to them. However, this one provides you with a form of visualisation:
The equivalent to kenōsis in Gnostic literature is Christ's withdrawal of his own luminosity into himself, so as to cease dazzling his own disciples. At the request of his disciples, "Jesus drew to himself the glory of his light". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenosis#Gnosticism
Thinking about a suitable analogy, I turn to the death and resurrection of Jesus for inspiration. In order for a seed to grow it has to be planted in the soil. There it remains, in darkness, till the process of germination is complete. Then a new plant emerges, and reaches up to obtain energy from the sun. The old has gone, the new arises.
The Word, or Logos, voluntarily agreed to give up the glory he had in his pre-incarnate existence, and submitted himself to death, in order to accomplish the will of his Father in heaven. Then the resurrection takes place and Jesus arises from the tomb in a glorified body and the world is transformed because of his glorious victory over death.
In him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it (John 1:4).
The light and life of the world was veiled for a short while, but the veil has now been removed. The resurrected Jesus is no longer “the suffering servant” of Isaiah, but is revealed as “the true light that gives light to every man” (John 1:9).
The following article provide some Christian insights: https://www.gotquestions.org/kenosis.html