Secondly, Christ claimed _Unity_ with God. He did not say that He was another God, but that He and the Father were _One_; that He was in the Father, and the Father in Him; that whoever beheld Him beheld the Father; that whoever had seen Him had seen the Father.[418] These latter texts cannot, of course, be pressed literally, as few would maintain that Christ was really God _the Father_. But just as if a human father and son were _extremely_ alike, we might say that if you had seen the son, you had seen the father; so if Christ was truly God--God the Son--the _very image_ of His Father,[419] the same language might be used. It would at least be intelligible. But it would be quite unintelligible, if Christ had been merely a _good man_. Can we imagine the best man that ever lived saying, If you have seen me, you have seen God? [Footnote 418: John 10. 30; 17. 21; 12. 45; 14. 9.] [Footnote 419: Heb. 1. 3.] Thirdly, Christ claimed _Pre-existence_ with God. He said that He had descended out of heaven; that He had come down from heaven; that He came out from the Father and was come into the world; and that even before its creation He had shared God's glory.[420] While in another passage, '_Before Abraham was, I am_,'[421] He not only said that He existed before Abraham, but by using the words _I am_ instead of _I was_, He seemed to identify Himself with Jehovah, the great _I am_, of the Old Testament.[422] [Footnote 420: John 3. 13; 6. 38; 16. 28; 17. 5.] [Footnote 421: John 8. 58.] [Footnote 422: Exod. 3. 14.] Turning now to the other side, there are four passages in which Christ seems to _disclaim_ being Divine. The most important is where He says that the Son (_i.e._ Himself) does not know the time of the future Judgment;[423] and the present writer has never seen a really satisfactory explanation of this. But it may be pointed out that if we admit that Christ was both Divine and human, it is only fair to refer any particular statement to that nature, to which it is applicable; even though the wording seems to suggest the opposite. In the same way, the passage, that the _Lord of Glory_ was crucified[424] can only refer to Christ in His _human_ nature, and not in His Divine nature, as the Lord of Glory. And in His human nature Christ may have been ignorant of the time of the future Judgment, just as in His human nature He increased in wisdom and stature.[425] [Footnote 423: Mark 13. 32.] [Footnote 424: 1 Cor. 2. 8.] [Footnote 425: Luke 2. 52.]