When Paul writes in I Corinthians 1:24 that Jesus Christ is ‘the wisdom of God’ it is difficult,
at first, to understand what he means. And that is not surprising because wisdom as a concept
is not easily grasped. What is wisdom? The Bible tells us that wisdom is worth more than
all the silver, gold and jewels in the world and that nothing we desire can compare with her.
But what is this enigmatic thing? Is it knowledge? Well, to be sure, to live wisely we
cannot do so without knowing certain facts about the world in which we live; that there are
laws in the Cosmos that if we ignore them would be the height of folly. Ignoring the law of
gravity (for example) would mean that our lives would be cut short very quickly. So being wise
does include concrete knowledge.
But on the other hand, many of us may have met great scientists who, whilst possessing
vast knowledge about the laws of universe, are nevertheless foolish and their lives fall apart.
Because they do not understand that although there are natural law,s there are also moral laws
in the Cosmos that are just as real and unforgiving as natural laws. And so fractured
relationships can fill their lives with grief and sorrow. Others therefore argue that to live a full
life, a life suffused with an understanding of the way in which the world works, it is
imperative that we obey the moral law: ‘Do not steal!! Do not commit adultery!! Honour your
parents!!’ That of course is right, but Jesus came across such ‘moralists’ all the time.
Whilst they were often morally upright so that the outward “cup” of their lives was clean, the inner
reality of their lives was unclean. So the moral knowledge they possessed was unequal
to the task, as well – and its fruit was hypocrisy.
So, what is this Wisdom that Paul is talking about? Well, it is important to understand that
this “wisdom” is not, at root, knowledge of either the natural law or the moral law. To be sure I,t
involves both. We need to know the facts about Jesus: that He was a man, born of a virgin, that He
was crucified, died, was buried and rose again. We also need to know that He was sinless, that He
kept the moral law, that He was pure and holy. But only knowing these “facts” is not to possess the
“wisdom” of God. Why not?
To possess these facts is to know things about Jesus the Wisdom of God but it is not to know
Him. If we are ever to lay hold of this Wisdom, we must understand that the Wisdom of God is a
Person, not abstract knowledge. Jesus comes to us as a real, living, forgiving, loving Person, and
asks us to put our trust in Him. True, everlasting wisdom that is worth more than silver or gold or
rubies can only be found in relationship with Him, for it is only His yoke that is easy and His burden
that is light. And in knowing Jesus you can know that only in Him are “hidden all the treasures of
wisdom and knowledge” (Colossians 2:3).