Q. Did Jesus give up all knowing the future just before the creation? (We understand he did at His incarnation.) Could the epic story unfold as Jesus relies on close faith and communication with the Father for revelation and instruction all the way through? Voluntarily not knowing the future, right up to receiving His completed bride (church) and perhaps beyond. His ongoing humility as reliant Holy Royal King and husband. I don’t have any Bible passages yet. Maybe Genesis 32:25 as “the man” wresting with Jacob couldn’t overcome him?
As you note, and as I discuss in this post, Christian theology understands that in becoming incarnate as Jesus, the second person of the Trinity gave up certain divine attributes. This is what Paul means when he writes in Philippians that Jesus “emptied himself” in order to be “born in human likeness.” The Greek term for “emptying” is kenosis, and that term is used in Christian theology to describe Jesus’ act of giving up these attributes. Jesus specifically gave up what are known as the non-communicable divine attributes, that is, the ones that are unique to an infinite God and so cannot be passed on to finite humans: omniscience, omnipotence, omnipresence, eternity, etc. Jesus did not, however, give up the communicable divine attributes such as love and holiness, which can be taken on by humans as they grow in godliness.
However, Christian theology would not say that the second person of the Trinity gave up these non-communicable divine attributes just before the creation. In the incarnation, Jesus voluntarily submitted himself to the authority and guidance of God the Father. But in the divine activity of creating the universe, the second person of the Trinity was a full and equal partner with the other two persons of the Trinity. As I discuss in this post, all three persons of the Trinity are involved in every action of the Godhead. At the beginning of Genesis, we see the Father creating by speaking, that is, by the Word, as the Spirit hovers over the unformed creation. So they are all involved. John tells similarly us at the beginning of his gospel, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.” I do not believe that the second person of the Trinity could have played this role in creation after first giving up divine attributes such as omniscience.
I would say further that in writing to the Philippians, Paul, after describing how Jesus “emptied himself, taking on the form of a servant” in his incarnation, then indicates that after his resurrection and ascension, God the Father restored Jesus to his full prior status: “Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name.” So I would not see the voluntary “emptying” of the incarnation continuing into the future after Jesus’ time on earth.
However, I do appreciate your sense of the humility and interdependence with the Father (and the Spirit) that has characterized, and will continue to characterize, the Son’s activities throughout the whole history of creation and redemption. If I would not agree with what you suggest might be the case with his attributes, I certainly agree with what you say about his attitude.
(As for the implications for all of this of the account of the figure who wrestled with Jacob, please see this post: Why couldn’t God defeat Jacob in a wrestling match?)
Good Question 