Day 10: The Wisdom of God

“If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind.” – James 1:5-6

The cross destroys the wisdom of the world. Rather than by brute force or muscle, God claimed victory over sin and death with humility and lowliness. He conquered death with death. He revealed His beauty and His glory through suffering and humiliation. 

This is not something that earthly wisdom could have ever devised. The saving gospel came not from the mind of man but from the mind of God. For this reason, the Apostle Paul asks, “Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe.” (1 Corinthians 1:20-21) In other words, it was the wisdom of God to wrap salvation in foolishness – or at least what appears foolish to the world. 

What could appear more foolish through earthly eyes than a man hanging in agony upon an instrument of torture? And yet, this is precisely where we find the living God. As Reformer Martin Luther once said, “God can be found only in suffering and the cross.” 

When we think of the wisdom of God, we should think of Jesus. In fact, these are the same thing. Paul calls Christ “the wisdom of God.” (1 Cor. 1:24) Therefore, if we seek wisdom, we should seek after Christ.

Prayer:

Thou, O Christ, who wert tempted in all points like as we are, yet without sin, make us strong to overcome the desire to be wise and to be reputed wise by others as ignorant as ourselves. We turn from our wisdom as well as from our folly and flee to Thee, the wisdom of God and the power of God. Amen.   – A.W. Tozer

Response:

Do you lack wisdom? If so, why are you not asking for it?

Christ is the wisdom of God. What does this say about why Jesus came to earth?