mited by His humanity. The fact he asserts, and that is all. The scene
in the Upper Chamber was but a feeble picture of what had already been
done behind the veil. Unless He had laid aside His garments of divine
glory and majesty, He would have had no human flesh from which to strip
the robes. Unless He had willed to take the 'form of a servant,' He
would not have had a body to gird with the slave's towel. The
Incarnation, which made all His acts of lowly love possible, was a
greater act of lowly love than those which flowed from it. Looking at it
from earth, men say, 'Jesus was born.' Looking at it from heaven, Angels
say, 'He emptied Himself.'

But how did He empty Himself? By taking the form of a slave, that is to
God. And how did He take the form of a slave? By 'becoming in the
likeness of men.' Here we are specially to note the remarkable language
implying that what is true of none other in all the generations of men
is true of Him. That just as 'emptying Himself' was His own act, also
the taking the form of a slave by His being born was His own act, and
was more truly described as a 'becoming.' We note, too, the strong
contrast between that most remarkable word and the 'being originally'
which is used to express the mystery of divine pre-existence.

Whilst His becoming in the likeness of men stands in strong contrast
with 'being originally' and energetically expresses the voluntariness of
our Lord's birth, the 'likeness of men' does not cast any doubt on the
reality of His manhood, but points to the fact that 'though certainly
perfect man, He was by reason of the divine nature present in Him not
simply and merely man.'

Here then the beginning of Christ's manhood is spoken of in terms which
are only explicable, if it was a second form of being, preceded by a
pre-existent form, and was assumed by His own act. The language, too,
demands that that humanity should have been true essential manhood. It
was in 'the form' of man and possessed of all essential attributes. It
was in 'the likeness' of man possessed of all external characteristics,
and yet was something more. It summed up human nature, and was its
representative.

III. The obedience which attended the descent.

It was not merely an act of humiliation and condescension to become man,
but all His life was one long act of lowliness. Just as He 'emptied
Himself' in the act of becoming in the 'likeness of men,' so He 'humbled
Himself,' and all along the cours