HoHum:
Who were the Wise Men in the long ago? Not Herod, fearful lest he lose his throne; Not Pharisees, too proud to claim their own; Not priests and scribes whose province was to know; Not money changers running too and fro; But three who traveled, weary and alone, With dauntless faith, because before them shone The star that led them to a manger low. Who are the Wise Men now, when all is told? Not men of science; not the great and strong;
Not those who wear a kingly diadem; Not those whose eager hands pile high the gold; But those amid the tumult and the throng Who follow still the star of Bethlehem.
WBTU:
God is all knowing and all powerful. However, if he was not good and wise we would have reason to be afraid. Since God is good and wise, He is worthy of our praise and thanksgiving.
In the doxology in Romans 16:25-27 God is specifically called wise so we are focusing on that this morning. Wisdom is the ability to choose the best possible end, and to choose the best possible means of achieving that end. It is not the same as knowledge, but is rather the ability to put one’s knowledge to practical use. Also wisdom is the ability to make the right decisions when judging between two different courses of action.
Paul has already said this: “Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out! “Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counsellor?”” Romans 11:33, 34, NIV.
Thesis: God is wise in 3 areas
For instances:
In his work of creation
“By wisdom the LORD laid the earth’s foundations, by understanding he set the heavens in place;” Proverbs 3:19, NIV.
“How many are your works, O LORD! In wisdom you made them all” Psalms 104:24, NIV. We ought to take time to admire His wisdom in creation. I've read that if the proportion of gases in the air were changed ever so slightly, all of us would die. The way God tilted the earth, the way He arranged the seasons, the way He put creation together is a revelation of His great wisdom. It's logical that the God who is wise enough to run creation is wise enough to run our lives. If He can keep the stars and the planets and the seasons and all these things going as they should, can He not put our lives together and make them what they ought to be?
In his work of providence= ruling, preserving and caring for this world
God, in his wisdom, gave mankind laws to live by. “And what other nation is so great as to have such righteous decrees and laws as this body of laws I am setting before you today?” Deuteronomy 4:8, NIV. “The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul. The statutes of the LORD are trustworthy, making wise the simple. The precepts of the LORD are right, giving joy to the heart. The commands of the LORD are radiant, giving light to the eyes.” Psalms 19:7, 8, NIV. God’s commands are indeed of such a nature that if they were followed, His purpose would be realized.
But God in His wisdom uses men’s decisions even when they do not obey his commands. Through God’s foreknowledge, God is able to use even the sinful acts of men to accomplish His good purpose. God used the evil actions of the Assyrians, Babylonians, and Romans to correct and punish His own sinful people. “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” Romans 8:28.
God is not frustrated by anything. Even pain and suffering may be used for good results by the all wise Ruler. If we believe that God is all wise and as well as all knowing and all powerful, then we should not attempt to criticize or to judge what God brings to pass or even allows to happen in this world. We will not challenge God’s decisions and works. Even if God’s wisdom bring disaster, we should acknowledge that God makes no mistakes and take comfort in the words of Romans 8:28.
Only someone who is wiser than God (no person here) has a right to sit in judgment upon God’s providence. This is in a sense what Job was presuming to do, and God let him know in no uncertain terms that his wisdom was pea sized and puny in comparison to God’s. Because of this we can expect there will be things that we cannot understand about Providence.
The only response to an all wise Providence is complete trust in the God who makes all things work together for good. No one but the Only Wise God is worthy of our trust. If God were merely all powerful, we would have more reason to be afraid of him than to put our confidence in Him. But God is wise as well as powerful.
In his work of redemption
God came up with such a marvelous plan of salvation. God has worked it out through every stage of human history. God has made it all known through the gospel- such a God is truly the essence of wisdom!
All of Romans is unfolding this. But look with me at 1 Corinthians 1:21-31 where Paul connects the work of Christ directly with the wisdom of God:
1. “For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe.” 1 Cor. 1:21 God wisely rejected the possibility of salvation by human intellect and wisdom and knowledge. God permitted man to have a part in the whole endeavor. God depends upon man to deliver the message but the message is not about us, it’s about Jesus Christ. It is the message that the world views as foolishness, for the world trust only in human means. The saving content of the message is Christ crucified: the doctrine which the wise of this world regard as absurd. Yet this message is God’s means of salvation.
2. “Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling-block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.” 1 Corinthians 1:22-24, NIV.
In his infinite wisdom, God chose a way of salvation through Christ that strikes a blow against the Jewish demand for signs and against the Gentile demand for human wisdom. The Christ of the Cross is the answer to man’s weakness and man’s ignorance. By ourselves, we are weak, unable to remove the guilt of our sin; but this is done by the power of God in “Christ crucified.” By ourselves we are ignorant of the will of God for us. Our mental powers do not know the way, but “Christ crucified” is the way for man to know God. What wisdom!
3. “For the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength.” 1 Corinthians 1:25, NIV. In other words, God chose to express his infinite wisdom in the form of human foolishness and weakness. Now, why does he do it this way? Why is this an infinitely wise way to save sinners? Because it is the only way to achieve a great goal of the gospel. Last week learned that one goal of the gospel is obedience. And what is this goal today? We’ll see if stay with me.
4. “Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things--and the things that are not--to nullify the things that are, so that no-one may boast before him.” 1 Corinthians 1:26-29, NIV. What is the goal? This goal is clear in verse 29, “so that no one may boast before him.” God chose a way that would strip us of every ground of boasting in ourselves. Stated negatively, this is a great goal of our salvation, and God has chosen the only way to bring it about. No boasting in ourselves in the presence of God. But Paul does not state this goal merely negatively. Leaving it there would not be good news, nor infinite wisdom. So Paul continues:
“It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God--that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. Therefore, as it is written: “Let him who boasts boast in the Lord.”” 1 Corinthians 1:30, 31, NIV. This is one of the greatest goals of salvation. This is what infinite wisdom was aiming at. “Let him who boasts, boast in the Lord.” God has provided redemption through Jesus Christ in His perfect wisdom—that is, in such a way as to strip us of all boasting before God in ourselves, and replace it with boasting only in the Lord. No human being can boast of his accomplishments before God. Man cannot save himself; he can be saved only by God’s grace. By using what man calls weak and foolish, God has made it impossible for any man to boast that he could have performed Christ’s redemptive work on the cross. Christ alone made that sacrifice. A great goal of God’s work in salvation is that all Christians would boast with passionate allegiance only in the Lord, and not in themselves. Beware of saying we could have found a better way to do it. ““Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counsellor?”” Romans 11:34, NIV. We do not know enough to counsel God about the way he saves. Rather, let us bow our heads with broken-hearted humility and learn what infinite wisdom does (Learn more the mystery that came from the only wise God next Sunday Lord willing). And then, let our lives be ones of consistent boasting in the Lord alone.
Conclusion and invitation:
We have two alternatives before us. One is the philosophy of men, depending upon human intellect and human ability. Or we can take our achievements, intellect, talents and put them all aside and accept the wisdom of God, in which a man glories not in himself but in the Savior. May all of us decide, “Not I, but Christ.”
