… for if they had understood it [God’s wisdom] they would not have crucified the Lord of glory; but just as it is written, “Things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard, and which have not entered the heart of man, all that God has prepared for those who love him. For to us God revealed them …

Wisdom is demonstrated by its actions. Had the world understood and believed the wisdom of God, the world would not have rejected Christ and murdered Him on the cross – plain and simple. The wisdom of God is not bound up in the ivory towers of academia, nor is it stored away in the nuanced ramblings of the scholarly clerics of this world. The wisdom of God is not something that can be attained through study!

Is there value in studying God or theology (though this is somewhat redundant terminology, coming from the Greek words meaning “the study of God”)? Yes, that kind of study can add to our knowledge. But it does not add to our wisdom, for wisdom is not attained through study, but is given to us graciously. Once having wisdom, we may study to apply that wisdom. That is what the book of Proverbs is all about—applied wisdom. And we should study the Word of God to gain knowledge about God.

However, the wisdom of God is that which is given and believed. And it begins with the fear of the Lord, as we saw earlier (Prov. 1:7). When people reject what they know of God, then, “[p]rofessing to wise, they [become] fools” (Rom. 1:22). Unfortunate irony. Such is the ultimate talionic judgment of the universe, or in common terms, the ultimate shooting oneself in the foot. The word “talionic” describes the fitting punishment or consequence of one’s actions. The Mosaic Law epitomized this in the pithy saying, “Eye for eye, tooth for tooth” (Lev. 24:17-20). In other words, let the judgment fit the crime. Rejecting the wisdom of God carries its own punishment: a rendering of the rejecter of God to be absolutely foolish. How absolutely appropriate. How sad.

Paul goes on to speak rather of the glorious benefit of receiving God’s wisdom. Christians often misapply verse 9 to our future hope. However, Paul quotes from Isaiah to speak of the wisdom that prior to Christ was mysterious, but that Christians now already have and understand. Before Christ, no one could even come close to imagining what was in store for those who have responded in love to God. Here, faith is pictured not as isolated from love, as though it were simply a mere legal sort of transaction, but rather as a response of the heart in relationship to God. The world can’t possibly begin to understand this relationship until they humbly respond to “Christ and Him crucified.”

Lord, through Christ and His resurrection, I understand Your wisdom.