(6) The centre of this personality, the Ego of this undivided consciousness, is God. Whenever He sjieaks of His coming into the world, it is always God that speaks, not less in Mt lO^'* and
parallels than in Jn 3'=* 10'». This fact stands side by side with such facts as the confession of ignor- ance. They are never allowed to get far apart. When we have the passage Mt 24"" confessing ignorance, it is preceded by the glorious description of the return of the Son of Man in Divine majesty (v. 2"), and followed by the Judgment scene of iS^'-"*. There is no trace of a sense of transition or of shock in passing from one form of consciousness to the other, because there is no such shock, no transition (see Kenosis). The solution of this problem, of the unity of the consciousness in the midst of such apparent contradictions in the con- tents of consciousness, is, again, a problem of dogmatics.
6. The signijirnnce of the humaniti/ of Christ for r cliff io». —The interest of dogmatics in the humanity of Christ lies in the doctrine of a true Incarnation, which is the foundation of the doc- trines of Atonement and Forgiveness. The interest of religion in Christ's humanity is the interest of believers in the forgiveness of sins, who need to feel the identification of their Redeemer with themselves. It is not without profound significance that it is said that judgment is committed to the Son of Man (Jn 5"). Whatever else of deepest truth there may be in it, there is this, that the sinner needs to feel the identification of his Judge with himself by the possession of a common human nature. When the Judge knows both the per- sistency and depth of sin on the one hand, and the weakness and temptations of man on the other, —then only will the sinner be assured that the proffered forgiveness is for him. It is, again, the interest of believers in God, who get higher ideas of God's goodness from the greatness of the con- descension involved in His ' becoming flesh.' It is, further, the interest of believers in Jesus, who, when they understand that Jesus is identified with us by the possession of our common humanity, feel a new confidence ; are stimulated to more frequent prayer ; become conscious that He truly draws near to them ; regard their varied lot in life, which He has shared, as sanctified thereby ; bear with greater equanimity their sorrows, which He also bore ; find in Him their pattern of life (see Obedience, § ii.); and thus see in Him not an abstraction, but a real, objective, and personal Redeemer and object of faith, a Captain, and the Head of the Church. See, further, INCARNATION, Son op Man.
Literature.— Dale, Christian Doctrine, 46-73 ; Stalker, Imago Christi, passim ; Ullmann, Sinlessness of Jesm, 62 ff. ; Weiidt, Teaching of Jemi-s, v. 136 fE. ; Fairbairn, Christ in Modem Theology, 347 fl. ; F. W. Robertson, Sermons, i. 99 fl. ; lExpositor, V. iv. [189BJ 388 ff. On the union of the human with the Divine in the Person of Christ see the Christological sections of standard works on Christian Doctrine.
Frank Hugh Foster. HUMILIATION OF CHRIST.— 1. Incarnation.— Jesus Christ is .-t i.icjlilcm. And yet He is not so much a imjlilcm :i,s man would be without Him. Indeed He is, in a true sense, the solution of the problem of man. Nevertheless, to the intellect, demanding that everything in the heavens above and on the earth beneath be reduced to 'the measure of man's mind,' He remains a problem. The expressions of His consciousness of pre-exist- ence constitute one of the chief elements of that problem. But, taken in connexion with two facts of His history, even this aspect of His person is not so dense a problem as when it is considered by itself. These two facts are (1) the expressions of His self-consciousness, direct and incidental, as to His relation to God on the one hand, and to total humanity on the other ; and (2) His ettects in the world and on the world. Even the pre-oxistence of Jesus Christ, when taken in connexion with these two outstanding facts, is, on the whole, a
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less problem and a smaller difficulty than the world of humanity would be without Him.
Furthermore, it would be more difficult to be- lieve that a being who had the consciousness that Jesus had, who has done for humanity what Jesus luis done, and who is to humanity what Jesus is, should have had the absolute beginning of His existence at a late point in time, than to believe that He came out of eternity and is of the eternal order. In other wcul-, ;i--iimi;i;_; and aeeepun^ the pre-existence of .li-u- ( lnUt. mystery thciu.:;h it be, it is easier to umleistanil His imiqne earthly history, His character. His consciousness, His revelations, His work. His actual efl'ects on the world and on men, both in the past and at the present, than it would be >vithout that assumption. At all events, He has in several instances ex- pressed the consciousness of haWng existed in a previous state before His advent into this world (Jn 313 6^ 858 16f i75.34)_ xijis pre-existent state was one of intimate association and intercom- munion with God and participation in the glory of the Eternal Father. It is also one of the under- lying presuppositions in St. Paul's Epistles (1 Co 88, 2 Co S\ Ph 2=-8, Col 11=-"). It is found also in an original setting in Hebrews (1--^).