Wisdom and Knowledge

Colossians 2:1-3 NASB
“For I want you to know how great a struggle I have in your behalf and for those who are at Laodicea, and for all those who have not personally seen my face, that their hearts may be encouraged, having been knit together in love, and that they would attain to all the wealth that comes from the full assurance of understanding, resulting in a true knowledge of God’s mystery, that is, Christ Himself, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” Emphasis is mine.

I think that one of the gifts of living to old age is the honest recognition of how little we actually know and even more importantly, how little of what we think we know, we are able to consistently apply, by either doing or not doing, for the betterment of others and ourselves.

I can’t help but think that Jesus is the ultimate source of wisdom and knowledge because our heavenly Father sent Jesus to us, that we might learn of our heavenly Father’s wisdom and knowledge. Jesus specifically told us that the words that He spoke were not His own, but in fact had been given to Him, by our Father, to convey to us (John 14:10)(John 12:49). 

There are many Scriptures throughout the Old Testament that provide insight into God’s wisdom and knowledge, but the one that sticks out in my memory comes from Isaiah 55:8 where God says “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” declares the Lord.” This tells me that my humanistic natural thoughts and my humanistic natural ways, are not the same as God’s ways. There are radical differences between the way God reasons and how we, humanistically speaking, reason. And, most importantly, the essence of our being is radically different than the essence of God. God is holy, not a respecter of persons, fair and just in all that He does, without partiality and with “loving” intent for all. But that “loving” intent is to be in accordance with God’s declared ways and God’s declared thoughts and not our own. And therein lies the conflicting perspectives that works towards opposing ends.

This statement that the Apostle Paul makes in his letter to the Colossians is really beautiful when you stop to think about it. Notice how Pauls states that it is his desire that their hearts be encouraged, knit together in love, with the result that they would attain to all the wealth that comes from the full assurance of understanding, resulting in a true knowledge of God’s mystery, that is, Christ Himself, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

“Our hearts knit together in love”. Have we as Christians, fallen short on that one? I’m thinking big time. How about falling short in possessing “the full assurance of understanding”? Again, big time. And the biggest shortfall of all, “resulting in a true knowledge of God’s mystery, that is, Christ Himself, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” Have we, collectively as the visible Church, even grasped what that entails? I’m thinking for far too many, the answer to that question is no, and that “far too many” would frequently include myself.

Did you notice that word “hidden”? That could be the opposite to perhaps, “openly displayed”. The reason for that could be two fold. When we look at what Jesus did and what He said, we need to also look at the motives behind what He did and what He said. And when we do, as an example, when Jesus set His face to go towards Jerusalem (Luke 9:51), knowing full well what awaited Him, we see the determination in Jesus, to fulfill the will of the Father. And the second aspect is the reliance and trust that Jesus Himself displayed in the will of God being accomplished, to the ends that God His Father had ordained (Isaiah 14:24). So it not only important to understanding “what” Jesus said in revealing the knowledge and wisdom of His Father, but it’s also important to understand “why” Jesus spoke the words of His Father and accomplished His works.

And I am reminded that Jesus told us to “learn from Me” in Matthew 11:29. Jesus’ trust was continually in the Father. Jesus’ motives were continually rooted in accomplishing the will of the Father and all that Jesus said and did, came from the Father. Jesus, God with us, in the flesh.

And this is the expressed will of the Father, spoken through the Son: John 3:16-17 NASB: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.”

I indicated at the beginning of this post that I have come to acknowledge that what I understand, that is to understand, is very little. And even more so, what I presume to have been able to understand and actually have the wisdom to effectively use, is far less that it should be. That’s the difference between God and myself and the difference between Jesus and me. Jesus, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. 

Romans 10:4 ESV 
“For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.”

Jesus is my righteousness and this is a gift, from God the Father, through the Son, to all who believe, including me. And Jesus is our knowledge and Jesus is our wisdom. 

1 Corinthians 1:30-31 ESV
“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.”

Simplistic, isn’t it? But the knowledge of this reality and the wisdom of honestly applying this realization, is what God has deemed, brings reconciliation again, between God and man. 

Worthy is the Lamb! Blessings!