Christ Incarnate Explained:
“He was different because He was sinless (see Rom. 8:3). Further, He was found in the appearance (schema) of a man. This word refers to that which is outward; i.e., in actions, dress, manners, and all appearances He was a man. Thus He humbled Himself and became obedient to death on a cross, the epitome of shame.
The movement of the passage starts with Christ’s preincarnate glory and proceeds to His shameful death on the cross. Obviously, in order to die, He had to become man. In order to do that He had to empty Himself of His preincarnate position, yet without diminishing the Person. There was no way He could become a man and remain in the position He had in His preincarnate state. But He could and did become a man while retaining the complete attributes of His preincarnate Person, that is, of full Deity.The self-emptying permitted the addition of humanity and did not involve in any way the subtraction of Deity or canceling the use of the attributes of Deity. There was a change of form but not of content of the Divine Being. He did not give up Deity or the use of those attributes; He added humanity. And this in order to be able to die. Isaiah put it this way: “He poured out Himself to death” (53:12).”
Ryrie, Charles Caldwell. 1999. Basic Theology: A Popular Systematic Guide to Understanding Biblical Truth. Chicago, IL: Moody Press.
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