Wednesday, July 10, 2013

Wisdom




 Wisdom PowerPoint



One of the most mysterious qualities of our Father, is His wisdom.
When we think of "wisdom", we think of a quality that incorporates intelligence, common sense, a certain talent for understanding. It does include these things, but the wisdom of God far exceeds the ideas we may have concerning wisdom, as we find it in man.
The quality of supernatural wisdom is directly connected with justice, judgment, and the power of creation. In the Old Testament, one of the meanings of "wisdom" in Hebrew, and the primary power of the word, is in regard to judging. In 1 Kings 3, Solomon asks God for a gifting of wisdom. In verse 9, Solomon says to the LORD, "Therefore give to Your servant an understanding heart to judge Your people, that I may discern between good and evil. For who is able to judge this great people of Yours?" The LORD answers him saying, "Behold I have done according to your words; see I have given you a wise and understanding heart..."
Similarly, in the New Testament, the word "wisdom" is defined as "the wisdom of God as evinced in forming and executing counsels in the formation and governing of the world, and the scriptures. So wisdom can be very much about justice, judgment, and governing.
Even more mysterious, is the role that wisdom played, and continues to play in the creation power of God. We can see this wisdom in Prov. 8. The person of Wisdom is speaking throughout this chapter:

"The LORD possessed me at the beginning of His way,
Before His works of old.
I have been established from everlasting,
From the beginning, before there was ever an earth.
When there were no depths I was brought forth,
When there were no fountains abounding with water.
Before the mountains were settled,
Before the hills, I was brought forth;
While as yet, He had not made the earth or the fields (outer places),
Or the primal dust of the world.
When He prepared the heavens, I was there,
When He drew a circle on the face of the deep,
When He established the clouds above,
When He strengthened the fountains of the deep,
When He assigned to the sea its limit,
So that the waters would not transgress His command,
When He marked out the foundations of the earth,
Then I was beside Him as a master craftsman;
And I was daily His delight,
Rejoicing always before Him,
Rejoicing in His inhabited world,
And my delight was with the sons of men.”
                                  Prov. 8:22-31

Before, during, and after the completion of creation, Wisdom was present and participating. Even from everlasting, the person of Wisdom was with the Father.
And the delight of Wisdom, and of the Father, was seeing the inhabited creation, especially the sons (children) of men. They celebrated and rejoiced as that life was brought forth.
We know that wisdom also includes the concept of judgment and justice, and government. So what judgment was being accomplished with Wisdom present at the dawn of creation? What caused the great rejoicing at the bringing forth of an inhabited world?
The previous condition of the earth was emptiness, darkness and chaos, according to Gen. 1:2. By establishing light, and life, our Father was also establishing His judgment on those forces that had created such previous turmoil, and destruction. By establishing a creation teeming with life, our Father  was judging darkness and death. By this judgment, He was re-establishing His government, His Kingdom, in the midst of the void. And by the presence of Wisdom, the re-newed creation was brought forth.  The grace, beauty, joy and power of wisdom, the Wisdom that exists with the Father, are being revealed in the scriptures above.
The partnership of creation and wisdom are revealed in other parts of scripture as well. Master craftsmen were appointed by Moses to build the beautiful pieces of furniture used in the Tabernacle of God, among the congregation of Israel. The talent and artisanship of these craftsmen were attributed to the fact that these men and women were filled with the Spirit of wisdom (Ex. 28:3, Ex. 31:2-4).
And yet, the gift of wisdom is not just for God, kings, and craftsmen. In James 1, we can read:
“If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.”
Just as our Father answered Solomon’s prayer for wisdom, so He will answer our prayer for wisdom as well. Why is it so important for the people who are the called by God, to desire and attain wisdom?
Ephesians 3:9-11 tells us:

“and to make all see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the ages has been hidden on God who created all things through Jesus Christ (the Word of Christ is all wisdom-Col 3:16), to the intent that now the manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the church to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places, according to the eternal purpose which He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord…”

The same purpose that we read in Gen 1 is commanded above to His church: establishing the judgment of God, the government of God, to the powers of darkness that would try to rule the earth. They did not succeed the first time, and they will not succeed this time – it is against the purpose, will and wisdom of God.
While the wisdom of our Father carries His judgment and government, and His creative power, yet the qualities of that wisdom are wrapped in His nature of love:

“For the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy.”
                                                         And
“Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show by good conduct that his works are done in the meekness of wisdom.”
                                                      James 3:17, 13

In this age, it is desperately needed for those who know God to seek and attain His wisdom, and all that His wisdom entails. Our Father says in the verses from Ephesians above, it is to be done now, manifesting through the church (His called out assembly). All we have to do is ask.

Our Father is Wisdom.

“The Perfect Wisdom of Our God”

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