Section 2
that He put aside His outward expression of God. Although He subsisted in the form of God, He took on the form of a slave and became in the likeness of men and in the fashion of a man. As a result, He had the appearance of a man instead of the expression of God. On the one hand, hav ing the form of God, Christ emptied Himself. On the other hand, being found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself, becoming obedient even unto death, and that the death of a cross. As the Savior, Christ has both divinity and hu manity. He both emptied Himself and humbled Himself. Thus, according to verses 6 through 8, we may speak of the self-emptying and self- humbling Christ.
Philippians 2:9 says, "Wherefore also God highly exalted Him and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name." This verse indicates that God came in to exalt Christ. For Christ to be exalted means not only that He was uplifted to the third heaven from the lower parts of the earth; it also means that in a glori ous way He was brought back with His human nature to the form of God. Before His incarna tion, Christ did not have the human nature. But through incarnation He took on humanity. Then He brought this human nature to the cross,