He Emptied Himself
Philippians 2:5-11, the form of God and the form of a servant, as the early church read it
Paul's great hymn of Christ moves from the heights to the depths and back: He who was "in the form of God" emptied Himself into "the form of a servant," obeyed unto death on a cross, and was exalted so that every knee should bow. The early church mined this passage against the Arians, because, as Chrysostom argues, "the form of a servant" means truly man, so "the form of God" must mean truly God, God by nature, not a lesser, made god. He even ties "being in the form of God" to the divine Name, "I AM THAT I AM." The Father in his own words below, with a plain restatement.
The Father's words are verbatim and attributed (Chrysostom, Homilies on Philippians, NPNF, public domain; selected from the running prose, footnote apparatus omitted). The box marked "In plain terms" is our own restatement, never the Father's words.
Philippians 2:5-6 · KJVLet this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:
"What shall we say against Arius, who asserts the Son is of a different substance? Tell me now, what means, 'He took the form of a servant'? It means, He became man. Wherefore 'being in the form of God,' He was God… 'The form of a servant' means, Man by nature, wherefore 'the form of God' means, God by nature. And he not only bears record of this, but of His equality too… that he is no way inferior to the Father."
St. John Chrysostom"Why says he not, 'being made in the form of God,' but 'being in the form of God'? This is the same as the saying, 'I am that I am.' 'Form' implies unchangeableness… It is not possible that things of one substance should have the form of another, as no man has the form of an angel, neither has a beast the form of a man. How then should the Son?"
St. John ChrysostomChrysostom's argument is a single clean lever: "the form of a servant" means really and truly a man, so "the form of God" must mean really and truly God, God by nature, not a junior deity. And Paul's wording is deliberate, "being in the form of God," not "made", the timeless "is" of the One who told Moses "I AM THAT I AM." His equality with God is not something He grabbed at; it was already and unchangeably His.
Philippians 2:7-8 · KJVBut made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
"I said that the 'form of a servant' was a true form, and nothing less. Therefore 'the form of God' also is perfect, and no less… 'The form of a servant' means, Man by nature… He became man."
St. John ChrysostomThe "emptying" is not God ceasing to be God; it is God the Son taking up a real, complete human nature, "a true form, and nothing less", and descending all the way down: to a servant's place, to obedience, to death, and not just any death but the shame of the cross. The One who is highest goes lowest, on purpose. That is the "mind" Paul tells us to have.
Philippians 2:9-11 · KJVWherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow… and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
The descent ends in exaltation: the name above every name, and every knee bowing, in heaven, on earth, under the earth. That homage is the worship owed to God alone (Isaiah 45:23, which Paul is quoting, says every knee bows to the LORD), now rendered to Jesus, "to the glory of God the Father." The self-emptying and the universal worship together confess the same thing the rest of the passage states outright: Jesus Christ is Lord.
Where this stands among the traditions
This is shared, creedal ground. Orthodox, Catholic, and Protestant confess together what Chrysostom presses here: Christ is truly God ("the form of God," equal with the Father) and truly became man ("the form of a servant"), humbling Himself to the cross and exalted as Lord, the heart of the doctrine of the Incarnation and a direct refutation of Arianism. The one place later Christians have debated is the precise meaning of "emptied Himself" (the so-called kenotic theories about whether He set aside any divine attributes), but the ancient and shared answer is the one Chrysostom gives: He did not cease to be God; He added a real humanity. The passage's own conclusion is the church's confession: Jesus Christ is Lord.
Patristic text from Chrysostom's Homilies on Philippians (NPNF, public domain), selected from the running prose with footnote apparatus omitted; nothing added or paraphrased within the quotation marks. Scripture in the King James Version; the plain-language lines are our own restatement. See also Before Abraham Was, I AM and The Word Was God; this passage in the Study Bible; Philippians 2 at BibleHub.