Wisdom is a “Who” more than a “What”
“Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.” (1 Cor 1:24)
Wisdom is a who more than a what. Jesus is Wisdom. He is the Proverbs wrapped in flesh. The Proverbs are animated and fulfilled in Jesus of Nazareth.
Jesus Lived The Proverbs For Us
And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that, as it is written, ‘Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.’”(1 Cor 1:30–31)
The Proverbs fill in the blanks for us on Jesus’s life that the Gospels didn’t set out to give us. We don’t have to wonder, “What would Jesus do?” The Proverbs tell us. They show us what he did. They show us what he didn’t do. The Proverbs give us insight into how Jesus faced the everyday matters of life, therefore discipling us into our everyday lives.
The wise life is to have the proverbial righteousness of Christ play out to every edge of life.
Wisdom is not simply smarts or morality. It’s not knowledge to win trivial pursuit. If we want to know what perfect wisdom looks like, there is one place to look—the Son of God, the Son of Man, Jesus of Nazareth.
The Hebrew word for wisdom basically means skill. It’s used to describe skill in war, art, and craftsmanship. Therefore, we can say that wisdom is Christ-empowered skill to live for the glory of God.
We cannot live wisely without Jesus. His cross, his resurrection, and his Spirit empowering us is the only way we can be biblically wise. This is the grace of wisdom. It’s a gift, a fruit from the gospel, freely given to us by Jesus himself. He is the Sage of the sages. He is the wisest of the wise. He is greater than Solomon (Matt 12:42).
Jesus Lives The Proverbs Through Us
The Proverbs are not problematic for us—we have the risen Christ at work in us (Gal 2:20). Yes, the Proverbs go against the grain of our flesh—calling us to humility and away from pride, calling us to think before we speak, etc. The bar is high—and Christ met it. And now we can live out the wisdom of Proverbs, the righteousness of Christ, with fear of the Lord (Prov 1:7) and trembling “for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure” (Phil 2:13).
If we want wisdom, if we want the Christ-empowered life, we must hear from him in the Scriptures. “Hear, for I will speak noble things, and from my lips will come what is right” (Prov 8:6). We must take his counsel. “Take my instruction instead of silver, and knowledge rather than choice gold” (Prov 8:10). We must listen to ourselves far less, and listen to him far more.
Jesus is our wisdom. And in his grace, he freely offers it to us. “I love those who love me, and those who seek me diligently find me” (Prov 8:17). If we go to Jesus for help, we will not find a cold shoulder. We’ll find nothing but love. Nothing but grace. Jesus sits on a throne of grace; not one of finger-wagging and tsk-tsks. “Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Heb 4:16)
The Proverbs are the practical righteousness of Christ, his life, played out in our sanctification. Wisdom isn’t a nebulous concept, or ancient advice for life. Wisdom is draped in Nazarene flesh. And now, by the gospel of grace, Jesus is our wisdom, and our righteousness, and our sanctification.
