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Jesus as the Wisdom of God

In 1 Corinthians 1:30 we read, “But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God...” But, what does that mean? How can a person be wisdom?

When we consider our brain with its associated intellectual or cognitive operations, we think of three things: data, knowledge and wisdom. You can’t get to wisdom without some data and knowledge first. Yet data and knowledge without wisdom are not only useless, they can be dangerous.

It is quite simple. Data flows together with experience to give us knowledge, which blends values to produce wisdom. Put another way, wisdom is the appropriate application of data and knowledge. What presents itself as a challenge to us is that Jesus, a person, is spoken of as wisdom, an abstract concept. But rather than making it more difficult, it can make it easier to accept, because we all relate to persons more readily than we do to concepts. This is not a matter of submitting ourselves to a set of wise propositions or proverbs, it is a matter of relating to Wisdom as a person - Jesus, the Son of God.

A while ago, I spoke with a young man who was seeking divine wisdom regarding his friendship with a young woman who wanted to pursue a romantic relationship. He told me he prayed about the situation and the answer was “No.” I asked him how he knew what God was saying to him. He told me that as he prayed about it, logical reasons why he should not move forward with the relationship came to his mind. His heart was inclined to pursue it, but wisdom was spoken into his mind when he prayed.

James tells us that when we ask for wisdom, God gives it to us liberally. He communicates that wisdom to our minds as we submit them to Him. If we truly seek God’s wisdom and we ask for it in readiness to submit to it, we can be sure He will give it to us.

The reason this young fellow got a clear answer as he prayed, was that he was prepared to respond to it. That kind of faith makes things happen. Jesus is wisdom. He wants to be wisdom to you and it is there for you to receive if you ask for it. That should be tremendously encouraging in the perplexing situations through which we pass. We know we can ask God for wisdom in faith and receive it because Jesus became wisdom for us.

Ron Hughes
© May 2007