Wisdom From God

(1 Corinthians 2:6-9)

When King Solomon wrote the proverbs he filled them with wisdom and insight. He was blessed with wisdom greater than any other man for when asked by God what he wanted, Solomon asked for the wisdom and insight to rule Israel with justice and right decisions.

So when Solomon wrote the proverbs he filled them with the wisdom and insights given to him by God. And we see that one of the most important messages he gave us, one of the best pieces of instruction Solomon left for all of us was this.

5 Get wisdom; get insight; do not forget, and do not turn away from the words of my mouth. 6 Do not forsake her, and she will keep you; love her, and she will guard you. 7 The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom, and whatever you get, get insight. 8 Prize her highly, and she will exalt you; she will honor you if you embrace her. – (Proverbs 4:5-8)

Get wisdom. Get insight. And where do we get wisdom and insight? From the one who is the source of all truth, all wisdom and all insight: God the Father through the Lord Jesus Christ.

And we see Paul writing to the Corinthian church in full concurrence with these sentiments in this section of scripture.

Maturity

Wisdom and insight are given by God to all His people who seek Him out and seek to find the truth. Seeking the truth is of first and foremost importance because it is pointless being wise about things that are no of the truth. In fact you could not call the knowledge built on false doctrine, lies and half truths wisdom for it is like a house of cards. At the first breath of wind it will collapse.

But wisdom is given to those who are mature in Jesus Christ. So you may ask what does it mean to be mature in Christ? The writer of Hebrews gives us a good description and a comparison between those who are mature and those who are not. He wrote:

12 For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food, 13 for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. 14 But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil. – (Hebrews 5:12-14)

The mature have learned by experience and practice and have had their faculties trained to be able to distinguish between what is right and wrong, what is good and what is evil.

Maturity does not come overnight. It is built through experience and practice and living the walk of Christianity with Jesus Christ, led by the Holy Spirit.

No new Christian has maturity for they have no experience to determine good and evil. They cannot discern between doctrines of men, doctrines of demons and the doctrine of the truth.

The sad fact is that there are many doctrines and teachings commonly taught in the modern church that are based on lies, errors, misunderstandings, twisted scriptures and falsehoods. It is the mature who learn how to negotiate the path that is the straight and narrow way that leads to life and is the walk of maturity.

And this takes time. It certainly helps if we can learn from others who have gone before us, but often we must all still take the knocks and the discipline of the Lord that will bring us to maturity.

Wisdom

The value of maturity though is that as we mature and as we continue to seek the will and the ways of God, He opens up the word and He teaches us His wisdom. This is what Paul was speaking of in the scriptures I am looking at today, for he says:

6 Yet among the mature we do impart wisdom, although it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to pass away. 7 But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory. 8 None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. 9 But, as it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him” – (1 Corinthians 2:6-9)

The wisdom of God is given to the mature, and as we see here, the wisdom of God is NOT like the wisdom of this world. The wisdom of God is a secret and hidden wisdom that is opened up only when a person is mature enough to understand it and take it in and use it in their life.

Let me give you a simple example of the difference between the wisdom of man and the wisdom of God.

The wisdom of Man says, “There ain't no free lunch!” By this they mean that everything in this life has a cost and you don't get anything for nothing. There is always a cost to everything. You will either pay now or you will pay later, but you're going to pay.

But God has given man the opportunity to have eternal life without payment. It is a free gift from God. And this is only one of many of God's free gifts. We do not have to work for it, do anything for it, keep complex and difficult laws, commandments or ordinances. We just have to believe and have faith in what God did for us in giving up His son Jesus Christ on our behalf.

Here are two stark contrasts. The wisdom of man versus the wisdom of God. And so we see that there is a major difference between these two positions…polar opposites!

Hidden Wisdom

But the wisdom from God, as Paul rightly shows us, is hidden from the general public. A non-believer cannot and does not see the value that exists in seeking and finding the wisdom from God. They do not see that real and true value is not in the material things of this life, but are in the spiritual things from God.

And you cannot get God's wisdom unless you seek Him out and seek it out.

Furthermore you cannot go to school and learn the wisdom of God because it is not taught in schools. It is delivered to each person individually as and when they need to learn it. It is taught to each individual by God through the working of His counselor and teacher, the Holy Spirit.

I should add also that God will freely give you His wisdom. Even though it is a hidden wisdom, it is hidden only from those who choose to ignore Him and who seek their own interests. But to those who come to Him it will all be revealed for that is His promise.

You may wonder why God would hide His wisdom, especially when it is so valuable and is to be desired. Well it is His intent to give it to anyone who seeks it out, but the emphasis and the responsibility is then placed on man to make the first move. Man must seek God first, and then God will come to man and give him all the gifts of God. When a man or woman seeks God out, God will show Himself to that man or woman in such a way that they know it is the hand of God with them. And then He will teach them so that they receive His gifts.

But the people of the world who do not seek Him do not see and they cannot see Him. They cannot understand His wisdom or gain a true insight into what He wants for mankind. They reject God for their own purposes and so God withholds His gifts, including the wisdom and insight that lead to life.

So seek out the truth. Seek out the ways of God. Seek out and learn to discern right from wrong, good from evil so that you grow in maturity and receive God's hidden wisdom. Do not rely on anyone else to give it to you, for each of us stand as individuals before God and each of us needs to seek His ways for ourself. Yes you can learn from others, but only God can open up the hidden wisdom so you can understand it fully.

So in closing, consider again the words of Solomon who was proclaimed to be the wisest man who ever lived: get wisdom, get insight and prize them highly, especially the hidden wisdom from God.

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