Literally, “emptied Himself.” This emptying was voluntary (see on John 10:17, 18). It was not possible for Christ to retain all the tokens of divinity and still accomplish the incarnation. The outworking of this emptying is detailed in the remainder of Phil. 2:7 and in v. 8. See Vol. V, p. 918.

Literally, “taking,” or “having taken.” The Greek construction shows that the succeeding phrases are a definition of “emptied Himself.”

 Paul is contrasting “the form of God” with “the form of a servant” and emphasizing the vast difference between the two estates. The same word (morphē) is used for “form” here as in “form of God” (v. 6). The word for “servant” (doulos) is that commonly used for “slave” (see on Rom. 1:1); so the apostle is saying that Christ emptied Himself and took on the essential attributes of a slave. As a slave’s outstanding characteristic is that of rendering unquestioning obedience, so as a man the Son undertook to render obedience to the Father (cf. on Heb. 5:8). He grasped not at divine sovereignty, but at service, which became the ruling passion of His life (Matt. 20:28). His whole life was subordinated to the will of the Father, as our lives should be. The life of Christ thus became the simple outworking of the will of God (MB 14, 15; DA 208). How all this could be accomplished is beyond human comprehension; it is a part of the great “mystery of godliness” (see 1 Tim. 3:16). But we may clearly see how small is any sacrifice on our part by way of comparison with the sacrifice of Him whom we profess to follow. Shall we who are so far inferior to Christ stand so much on our frail reputations that we find it difficult or impossible to yield our wills to the will of God? When we share in the true spirit of Christ, when He dwells within us and we live the life of the Son of God, the objective of Paul’s admonition in the early verses of this chapter will have been fulfilled in us. We will then be like Christ.

 Rather, “having become,” in contrast with “being,” or existing, in the form of God (v. 6).

 That is, resemblance. “In all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren” (Heb. 2:17). He was a complete man, yet He was also divine. When men looked upon the incarnate Son, they saw One like unto themselves (see Vol. V, pp. 901, 902, 917, 918).

Our belief in the deity of Christ must not weaken in any way our belief in His complete manhood. If Christ was not absolutely a man, if His divinity in the least degree qualified His humanity, then He practically ceases to be an example, and, indeed, a substitute.

The plural form is used, perhaps to emphasize that Jesus was to represent the whole human race, and not just an individual man.