Lent 10 The Gift of Wisdom

[HKHaugan]

“We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature, but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. No, we declare God's wisdom, a mystery that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began. None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory (1Cor.2:6-8).”

If we look carefully at 1Cor.2:11-16 Paul shows us wisdom comes down seven avenues: knowledge, thoughts, spirit, Spirit, words, understanding and judgment. Four of these are in vs.11, “For who among men knows the thoughts of man except the man’s spirit within him? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.” Here man’s thoughts and spirit are differentiated from God’s thoughts and His Spirit, two spiritualities.

But then vs.12 says, “We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us.” Here Paul indicates a third spirit, the spirit of the world, obviously from the mind of the prince of this world. This means that there are three spiritualities, a world spirituality, a personally chosen spirituality and God’s spirituality. The question then becomes, “Which spirituality have I chosen, am I choosing and will I choose, to which I can entrust my mind and heart?”

In vs.15 Paul is saying a Holy Spirit-influenced man, “…makes judgments about all things…” and then concludes that “…he himself is not subject to any man’s judgment: ‘for who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct Him?’ But we have the mind of Christ (vs.16).” What Paul is saying here is absolutely critical for our understanding. It is not we who are making wise judgments. It is the mind of Christ displaying His wise judgments in us through His Word.

What does this say about the gift of wisdom? When Paul specifies a gift of wisdom he is telling us that some people have been given a special measure of grace that is in direct accord with Jesus and His Word. That faithful accordance produces the kind of practical wisdom upon which others in the Body can rely for evaluation and guidance in making choices and decisions. Actually what we see in Paul is that gift manifested in his counsel to the Body of Christ through his letters. He knows it is the mind of Christ directing Him. You can see a confident wisdom from the Spirit as you read them.

When you look around at your brothers and sisters in the Body, to whom would you turn for wise counsel, trusting them to offer wise thoughts and wise words in the midst of situations that seem to have no answer and no sure conclusion? That is when the Spirit makes His wisdom available. It takes the Cross to bring us into reality and the Spirit to open our minds and hearts to His wisdom, an eternal wisdom for an eternal life.

“Brothers and sisters, when I came to you I didn't come with fancy words or great wisdom. I preached to you the truth about God's love. I made up my mind to pay attention to only one thing while I was with you. That one thing was Jesus Christ and his death on the cross. When I came to you, I was weak and afraid and trembling all over. I didn't preach my message with clever and compelling words. As I preached, the Holy Spirit showed his power. That was so you would believe not because of human wisdom but because of God's power (1Cor.2:1-5).”

More on gifts…stay tuned………