The Wisdom of God

The Wisdom of God is necessarily as unbounded as His existence and intellect, so this post is more just a brief look at a few points than a study that really does justice to the subject.
Having the wisdom of God is essential as believers because we are called to manifest this manifold wisdom not only to the world, but to all the spiritual rulers in the heavenly places. Eph 3:8-11, “This grace is given to me (who am less than the least of all saints) to preach the gospel of the unsearchable riches of Christ among the nations, and to bring to light what is the fellowship of the mystery which from eternity has been hidden in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ; so that now to the rulers and powers in the heavenlies might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God, according to the eternal purpose which He purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord…”

Not only is the church to manifest wisdom, but it is to manifest manifold wisdom, or wisdom in every facet and area of interaction between itself as a body and the outside world. Of all the wonderful plans which Christ has for His Church this is probably the one of which His Church most often falls short.

Since it is God’s desire that we should walk in His wisdom, I would like to look at a few things that could be called hallmarks of His Wisdom, things that we can look at to see if we are making wise choices.

Zophar tells us in Job 11:6 that sound wisdom is manifold, or double. One of the key elements of God’s wisdom is that it works not only for a short term solution, but for an eternal goal. Earthly wisdom is often very shortsighted and involves a buy now pay later mentality.

James gives us several practical attributes to test our “wise” ideas against in James 3:17, “But the wisdom that is from above is first truly pure, then peaceable, gentle, easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy.”

Firstly it is pure, anything that seems like a good idea, but is tainted by any impurity of any kind will eventually be tarnished, whatever temporary good may result will be destroyed by the impurity.
Secondly it is peaceable, much that happens in churches is manifestly not of the wisdom of God, because of its combatative nature. God is angry with the wicked and yet can still draw near to them with an offer of peace should they be willing to submit, and we should learn from Him.

It is gentle. Telling someone the truth is necessary, but gentleness can make the difference between the person receiving or rejecting the truth. Wisdom is not only what we say but how we say it. People may reject the Word of God anyway, but we don’t want to give them an excuse to do so by our rough manner. Wisdom gives people what they need to hear in the way that is most likely to make them able to receive it.

It is easy to be entreated. It is genuinely interested in the best for people and when asked puts forth the real and lasting solutions to their problems without a condescension.

It is full of mercy and good fruits. One of the most amazing aspects of God’s wisdom is His ability to restore men like David and Peter and use them to such a degree that not only is mercy vindicated, but also His wisdom in restoring them. It is far wiser to be able to restore someone who has been a recipient of care, ministry, and training then to totally cast them aside.

It is without partiality. Whenever people use prejudices to determine their choices they inevitably not only wrong the ones they overlook, but they also wrong themselves. God responds to people as they respond to Him, not based on their ethnic group, age, gender or any other outward appearance that we choose.

It is without hypocrisy. God’s wisdom is what it is. There is no guile in God, no trickiness. He may not reveal everything, because we cannot fathom it, but He does not manipulate or deceive.

God’s wisdom works. It is always justified by the good fruit it produces. It not only achieves results in a situation, but it lays down the character of God into the life of the one who follows it. His Wisdom declared that He would send apostles and prophets to be martyrs (Luke 11:49-51). This would work several things at once. It would provide a witness to the unbelieving, who would become more culpable in God’s sight. It would provide an opportunity for His followers to lay down their lives that others might know of salvation even as He had given His life for the salvation of mankind. Lastly it would cause men like Saul to be touched and turn from a persecutor to a preacher and spread the message farther and faster than men like Stephen could ever have taken it had he not laid his life down. Truly the foolishness of God is wiser than men!