How Christ became a Son

How Christ became subject to the Father.

Mat 16:15 He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am?
Mat 16:16 And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.
Mat 16:17 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.

I am going to focus on the person of Jesus in this post. In my previous post I covered Christ in the trinity, but here I want to cover the person of Christ. Not to prove that he is the messiah or God, but to show who Christ thought of himself as. We know he is the Son of God, but what does that mean? First, Christ and the Father made the decision that he would become the Son, and second that Christ then became subject to the Father by choice. He was equal to God, yet he chose to be his slave. So let's get to the first point.

Isa 6:8 Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me.
Isa 6:9 And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not.
Isa 6:10 Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed.

In verse 8 we have a conversation of God amongst himself. If you do not believe in the trinity you will regect this truth. Yet scripture will show that this is the case. The conversation also includes Isaiah who says "send me". So Isaiah was sent to prophecie, but it was Christ who was being instructed to say this. Here are some of the verses.

Mat 13:13 Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.
Mat 13:14 And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive:
Mat 13:15 For this people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.

This fulfillment of prophecy is written about in all four of the gospels. Christ spoke in parables to leave those who will not believe in him blind and deaf. So the conversation that Isaiah overheard was the Father instructing his Son on what to say or how to say it. So even before he was born as a man, Christ had became subject to the Father. Here is another verse.

Psa 2:6 Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion.
Psa 2:7 I will declare the decree: the LORD hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee.
Psa 2:8 Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession.
Psa 2:9 Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel.

Once again, we have a conversation between Father and Son. The Father declares the Son to be his,tells him what he will give him, and tells him what he will do. If you read on in these verses you will see the Father instruct people how to act toward the Son.

So now that we see it was by choice and pre-planned, I want to look at what Christ did to become subject to the Father.

Php 2:5 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:
Php 2:6 Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:
Php 2:7 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:
Php 2:8 And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.

I will start in verse 6. First Christ, who was in the form of God. Christ is the express image (exact duplicate) of the person of God (Heb 1:3). So it follows that he would not think he was stealing anything away from the Father by being equal to him. So the Son is equal in all ways to the Father because he is a carbon copy of him. Now on to verse 7 to explain how one who was equal became a subject.

In verse 7 He "made himself of no reputation". In the Greek this word is kenoo. Theologins call this the "kenosis". Even though many will say Christ emptied himself of nothing, nothing could be farther from the truth. I will give examples of Jesus either laying aside or giving up his rights or however you want to explain it, and becoming completely like a man. He gave up his wisdom and power, and I will address them in that order.
wisdom/knowledge

Luk 2:52 And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man.
Very simply, if he still had all of his knowledge he could not increase in wisdom. He was either all knowing or not.

Mar 13:32 But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father.If the Son did not know the day or hour he was not all knowing. Also notice the Holy Spirit is not in this list.

Joh 8:28 Then said Jesus unto them, When ye have lifted up the Son of man, then shall ye know that I am he, and that I do nothing of myself; but as my Father hath taught me, I speak these things.
Joh 8:29 And he that sent me is with me: the Father hath not left me alone; for I do always those things that please him.
How could the Father teach him if he already knows everything?

power
Joh 14:10 Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works.
Christ says the Father does the works here. If you read the rest of 14, you will get a much clearer picture of this relationship. John clearly explains the Son being subject to his Father. Not less of a being, but positionally less.

Mat 28:18 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.
If Christ never laid down his power, how could it be given to him? Christ will also in the future become subject to the Father. (1 Co 15:28)