It is a matter of history that, when the apostolic age ended, there began a whole series of attacks on the Person of our adorable Lord. If only attention had been focused on the statement of our Lord, and it had been accepted in all its implications, that, "All things are delivered unto Me of My Father: and NO MAN KNOWETH THE SON, BUT THE FATHER " (Matt. 10:2727What I tell you in darkness, that speak ye in light: and what ye hear in the ear, that preach ye upon the housetops. (Matthew 10:27)), we should have been spared the spectacle of these unhappy disputes as to His holy Person.
The mysterious union of Godhead and Manhood in His Person cannot be scrutinized and understood by the finite mind. It is utterly beyond the comprehension of the wisest and devoutest of God's children. We see in these attacks the subtlety of Satan, seeking ever to destroy the Christian faith.
One of the first attacks came from a sect called Gnostics, their name derived from the Greek word, Gnosis, knowledge. They denied that the Lord had a true human body. They taught that He was an apparition, appearing in the likeness of a man, that He suffered on the cross in appearance only, and not in reality. They professed' that they knew. Their attitude is described thus:- "Gnosis is knowledge; in a special sense, an inner and "deeper knowledge of the mystery of life, not accessible to the vulgar, and a source of pride to the initiated." (A History of the Christian Church, Cheetham, p. 97.)
Such was the doctrine and attitude of Gnosticism. We see it reproduced in principle in all esoteric cults, whose adherents pride themselves upon being in the know, and despise and hold as of no account all outside their ranks. This spirit is their sufficient condemnation. The doctrines of the Christian faith are plainly set forth for all to know. It is written of the little children in the family of God, "Ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things " (1 John 2:2020But ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things. (1 John 2:20)). This does not look like a select few being only in the know.
As to the Gnostic denial of the true Manhood of our Lord, Scripture is abundantly plain. We read, "There is one God, and one Mediator between God' and men, the MAN, Christ Jesus " (1 Tim. 2:55For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; (1 Timothy 2:5)). "Sacrifice and offering Thou wouldest not, but a BODY hast Thou prepared Me" (Heb. 10:55Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me: (Hebrews 10:5)). Our Lord as Man spoke of His spirit and His soul and body: that is complete manhood.
When our Lord rose from the dead, and appeared in the presence of His troubled, disciples, and they thought they had seen a spirit, He said, "Behold My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself: handle Me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones as ye see Me have" (Luke 24:3939Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have. (Luke 24:39)). This heresy is well exposed, when we read that in our Lord "Dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead BODILY " (Col. 2:99For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. (Colossians 2:9)). The Apostle John combated the same evil teaching when he wrote, "Every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come IN THE FLESH is not of God; and this is that spirit of Antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world " (1 John 4:33And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world. (1 John 4:3)). To deny the true Manhood of our Lord means the denial of. His Virgin Birth, and of His real atoning death on the cross. It is subversive of Christianity.