This past Sunday I heard a sermon on wisdom. It was based on the Old Testament lesson for Trinity Sunday this year, Proverbs 8:1-4, 22-31. It was a message that made many good points and kept me thinking about the topic long after the service had ended. One very important question the preacher put before us, although not exactly in these words, was, “What is wisdom and where does it come from?”

Most of the time people are seeking the wisdom of this world. Even though Proverbs tells us wisdom comes from God, originated in God and was present even before Creation, fallen men in a sinful world have been trying to redefine wisdom ever since. The devil gleefully rejoices when we question God’s wisdom, try to rethink it and act as though we know better than the Creator of all things.

God’s Word tells us not to let sin control us. The world says to do whatever you want. And that’s when trouble comes. When I was in first grade, my brother was in fourth grade. A neighbor kid had just put up a dartboard on a tree in his backyard, and we went down there with a few other boys to check it out. I was by far the youngest one there. Everyone took a turn tossing those sharp metal darts with the blue and red plastic wings. They were all doing a pretty good job, too. And then came my turn. Toss after toss I completely missed the target. At first the others just snickered, but then they started laughing. As I stood there with only one dart left, they were all laughing at me. Including my brother. When I saw that, I was filled with rage. I rared back and threw that dart as hard as I could, straight toward my brother! Thankfully, he fell over backwards before it arrived. The guy behind him was not so lucky. The dart was stuck in his arm! It was the only thing I had hit that day. And I knew I was in trouble. I had a sick feeling in my stomach and ran away. I could almost hear the devil now laughing at me and the trouble I was in. All because I let anger control me instead of what I knew was right. Just so you know, I was appropriately punished by my parents. And by the way, did you know that the Greek word for sin in the Bible literally means “to miss the target.” I was the embodiment of the word on that day in more ways than one. I would have done better to follow the wisdom of God that was being taught to me by my parents.

In his first letter to the Corinthians, Paul spent some time discussing wisdom as well.

Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 1 Corinthians 1:20–24

The wisdom of God comes to us in Jesus. He taught us by His example how to live. He showed love and compassion in the face of ridicule and rejection. All this to accomplish our forgiveness and salvation. He came to right the wrong we did. He offered a sinless life as payment for the sins of everyone else. He did that when He was crucified. The world says, “That can’t be right,” but it was. Through the substitutionary death of the Lamb of God, something the world calls foolishness, our debt was paid and our sins are forgiven. It was the only way we could be saved.

Paul spends a lot of time talking about wisdom in 1 Corinthians. I’m going to spend some more time reading and digging deeper into that.