I have been reading
A New Testament Theology (revised edition 1993) by George Eldon Ladd. I am in the section where Ladd is covering the apostle Paul's theology. He is trying to define how Christ, "emptied himself" in Philippians 2:
Philippians 2:5–7
Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. (ESV)
Ladd highlights the difficulty of understanding what "emptying himself" means. He points out that "a guideline may be found from the implicit comparison between Christ and Adam" (p. 744). Here's the key passage in Genesis 3:
Genesis 3:1–6
Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the LORD God had made.
He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’” But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.
Adam and Eve chose to take what is not theirs to obtain equality with God. Compare this approach with how Christ lived on earth, "Christ emptied himself by taking the the form of a servant." Christ's example is proclaiming God's glory through faithful, humble service. Humans try to obtain equality with God by trying to obtain glory for themselves by grabbing glory that is not theirs.
