Names | Wisdom - 1 Corinthians 1:30 | July 5

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Well, I guess that's a little closer.

So, as we've been talking about who God is, kind of through his names,

although admittedly, we know that most of these aren't names at all.

So there's one that has sort of sat in the back of my mind for a while now and,

wasn't really sure how to present it or how to share,

the impact that when I first heard it or read it or however it came months and

months ago, So really to be able to communicate well and accurately what it was all about.

And then I just thought at the beginning of the week that maybe this is the day to share.

And you know what? With 4th of July and everybody traveling,

low pressure for failure, I suppose. That's right.

That's right. That's right. So depending on how it turns out,

we could just forget that this all existed.

I won't put it online.

But I think there's a really important, really important word for us in this

idea of wisdom this morning. Let me read this verse in 1 Corinthians chapter

1 Corinthians 1 · chapter mention

1. So if you want to kind of give a preview of where we're going to be at,

follow along with your Bibles.

1 Corinthians chapter 1 is kind of where we'll sit.

1 Corinthians 1 · chapter mention

We'll flip over to Proverbs in a few minutes, and then we'll flip back to,

we'll sort of hit Genesis 1, but you don't need to go there.

And then we'll hit John chapter one, but mostly we'll come back to 1 Corinthians

and kind of be back here. So those kind of the preview of where we're going

if you want to be able to, 1 Corinthians chapter one.

So that's going to be kind of our anchor and then we'll come back to it.

We'll bounce around a little bit other than that. But this is starting in verse

18 of that chapter, first chapter.

And really we're going to get

to sort of chapter verse 25 and verse 24 is going to be the crux for us.

It said, Paul writes, For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who

are perishing, but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God.

For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, the intelligence of

the intelligent I will frustrate.

And I just say that this is probably the worst passage, chapter,

section in the whole Bible for me, because I really love...

Knowing stuff and making sure other people know that I know stuff.

So this is terrible, terrible words.

Where is the wise person? Where is the teacher of the law?

Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this 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.

I just think of in that verse, all of these people who are.

Seeking wisdom and understanding so hard, and yet the thing that they need most

is hidden from them because you can't discern it from worldly wisdom.

Verse 22, Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ

crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to the Gentiles.

But to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ,

the power of God and the wisdom of God.

For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom and the weakness of God

is stronger than human strength.

Amen, Lord. Thank you that you are the Christ, the power and the wisdom of God manifest to us.

That not only have you left us your word, through which you created everything

that we know, but also you came and demonstrated to us what it means to be powerful, to have power.

What it means to have wisdom and to be wise.

And you gave us a picture of that through Jesus as you came,

and humbled yourself and took on flesh to come near us and to be with us and

to fulfill all of the promises you've always made because you are the promise

maker and your promise keeper.

And all of them are fulfilled and give their yes and amen in Jesus.

So thank you that you are wisdom for us. Amen.

Yeah, so the reason I was hesitant to talk about wisdom is because the word

I actually want to talk about isn't the word wisdom, but it's something that

ties all of this together.

And it's found in the beginning, Genesis 1, verse 1. It's the first word of the Bible, actually.

Genesis 1:1

It's also found in Proverbs, all throughout Proverbs, as Solomon writes about wisdom.

So we'll get to the Word in a minute. But first, I want to start with some of

these passages in Proverbs. I'm not sure if anybody is willing to read other than me.

If you can or want to, you're welcome to shout out, but I can also just read it.

So all throughout proverbs we know proverbs is filled with wisdom it's filled

with sayings it's filled with practical things,

but it's also a common storyline throughout the book is this personification

of wisdom that wisdom is more than just something to be gained but it is actually a person.

And so in chapter eight of Proverbs, we see that wisdom calls out,

does not understanding raise her voice. So it's personified as a woman.

I didn't look up, I meant to, whether or not the word wisdom was feminine,

because then it just makes sense that it's referred to in the feminine sense, but either way.

So wisdom is calling out and then it personifies this person of wisdom in all of these ways.

And we get to verse 22 in Proverbs chapter eight.

And it says that the Lord brought me forth, this is wisdom talking,

as the first of his works before his deeds of old. I was formed long ages ago

at the very beginning when the world came to be.

And it kind of gives this account of creation when there were no watery depths.

We know that Genesis opens up with the spirit of God hovering over to the depths

of the water And wisdom is speaking and says, before all of that,

I was given birth, before the mountains settled in their place,

before he set the heavens in his place.

And I just want to back up for a second because this is the NIV translation,

so I'm not sure what translations you're looking at.

But it can sound like what is happening is that wisdom is being created because

of the word choices in wisdom.

A more literal translation. I just want to read this for you.

This is Proverbs 8.22. It says, The Lord possessed me at the beginning of His

way, before His works of old.

Another translation says something along the lines of, The Lord brought me forth.

And so rather than this idea of creation, what's really being held here,

and this is something that the Jews believed in in the first century,

is that wisdom is the agent of God through which he created the world.

So it's not something that was created, but it was the agency of God which initiated

creation, that he created the world, not just on a whim and not just because

he is a creator, but through his own divine wisdom.

And so there's this idea that in the beginning, the Lord brought forth wisdom.

He possessed his wisdom.

And that's verse 22, which I love whatever literal translation is because it

puts in there at the beginning. And my NIV kind of misses that place.

It just says, as the first of his works, which doesn't communicate this idea. In the beginning.

And it's going to be important, that word beginning, because that's the word

we're talking about here.

But if we look over at chapter nine, we continue this idea.

The first couple verses.

Leave your simple ways and you will live. Walk in the way of insight.

So wisdom is calling out for people to come and receive wisdom.

This is the contrast of these chapters, wisdom and foolishness,

or wisdom and the wicked woman who are calling out.

So not only is wisdom the agent through which God created, but wisdom begs people

to come and be wise, to leave their foolishness behind them,

to come and receive life, it says.

Leave your simple ways and you will live.

Not to give too much of a preview, but we know that in the New Testament,

Jesus says, right? Come and I will give you life that is abundant.

That there is wisdom brings forth light and life and God invites us to come,

and take a hold of wisdom.

Next chapter, chapter 10, the first couple of verses.

A wise son brings joy to his father, but a foolish son brings grief to his mother.

Ill-gotten treasure has no lasting value but the righteous delivers from death,

the Lord does not let the righteous go hungry but he thwarts the cravings of the wicked so he's.

Now he's inviting those of us who desire wisdom to walk into it,

to leave our foolishness behind.

And the Lord honors those who are righteous, those who live in wisdom.

The wise in heart accept commands. Whoever walks integrity walks securely.

We just have these contrasting verses.

The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life. Wisdom is found on the lips of this discerning.

The wise store up knowledge. So those who receive wisdom walk in wisdom,

and they then become the agent that passes along righteousness to others.

And so we have this storyline in Proverbs where the concept of wisdom is so

deeply rooted in God's creative acts that it is more precious than gold.

That it is the agent of God's creative work, that it's in highlighting this intentional order.

And so we have this person of wisdom that says it existed with God in the beginning.

So we want to hone in in verse 22 on that word beginning.

In Proverbs 8.22, that word is reshit, which means beginning, as you might imagine.

The first word of the Bible in Genesis 1, we know what Genesis 1.1 says to somebody?

In the beginning, God created, right? Beginning, the first word in the Hebrew

Bible is bereshit, in the beginning. So, Reshit, beginning, Bereshit, in the beginning.

This is the first word that we see in the Bible.

And as we've kind of established, what Jews saw is that wisdom was the creative

agent in the beginning along with God.

It goes a bit further than that. There's two things I want to point out in Genesis 1.1.

The first is the word Bereshit. So the way Hebrew works is that every letter

is given a picture and image.

And now years and years passed, and these images were mostly forgotten as it

became a written language.

The images, the pictorial aspect of it was sort of forgotten,

but the knowledge of it is still retained.

So the word Bereshit, I don't know how many letters it has. One,

two, three, four, five, six, one, two, six.

That's in English. This is in Hebrew.

Hebrew letters, Hebrew characters. But so it has six characters, I should say.

And again, this is, as Sandy has pointed out, we read Hebrew from right to left.

But each of them has a picture. Bereshit, Bar, means son.

We see Barabbas, son of the father, Bar, I forget where it is,

but when it says Bar-Jonah, son of Jonah.

So Bar is the Hebrew word for son, and it also continues that picture of a son.

Rosh, the second letter, head. So son, head.

Sha'id, I can't pronounce these, but I'm going to give my best,

has this idea of being appointed, but it also has the image of thorns as well.

Thorns. Yeah. And then Broch has the image of a tree.

She has the image of a gift. And Tav has the image of, or the idea of covenant.

And so in the first word of the Bible, Barashit, in the beginning,

and this idea that it is wisdom personified, We have the word spelling out to

us, the Son of God, crowned with thorns, upon a tree, the gift of the covenant.

So the first word of God's word to us is a picture of Jesus,

the personification of wisdom.

It's pretty cool. It's no wonder, and we're going to get here in a second,

but when we get to John 1, we see the same thing brought together,

this idea of Rashid wisdom, better sheet in the beginning, and Jesus, the Word of God.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was God, and the Word was with God.

The second thing I want to point out from Genesis before we get there.

Is there are actually two Hebrew words in that first verse that aren't translated.

And I'm sure there is a better explanation for why they're not translated than I have.

And perhaps they communicate, all of these languages have extra words that add

articles and things to them.

And I'm not an expert in Hebrew, so I can't rightly say whether or not it is

adding an article to the words.

But generally speaking, I think it's understood that these two words aren't

translated into our english,

and it's the the hebrew beginning of the hebrew alphabet aleph a essentially

right and then it is also a hebrew letter tav,

and which is the last letter of the alphabet so in hebrews or sorry in genesis

1 1 in the beginning and i think it goes aleph and then it says what god created and then it has tav

and so there is this idea that is untranslated that is wrapped up,

that with the first letter and the last letter, the whole alphabet, beginning and in,

when Jesus says, I am the Alpha Omega, there is an untranslated understanding

of the Spirit of God from beginning to end, the uncreated being who creates

all things, the Alpha and the Omega.

So we have this idea of Barashit in the beginning, the sun crowned with thorns

on a tree, the gift of the covenant.

And we have it wrapped up into the personification of this creative agent of

God, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.

And then we get to John chapter one.

Which says, as I just said, in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was

God, and the Word was with God, and He was with God in the beginning.

And all of a sudden, this language becomes more rich and more full as we understand,

all of the Hebrew meanings behind it, that,

the fulfillment of the covenant was already there in the beginning.

That as we read in Revelation, as we talked about last week,

the lamb that was slain, the lion and the lamb that was slain from the foundation of the world, that,

what a more clear picture, what more clear of a picture can we have that the

cross was never God's backup plan.

That from the beginning, God knew all things. Nothing took him by surprise.

And so when he communicated his words, even to humans to record,

he wanted us to know from the beginning that he is in control.

And in this John 1.1, we see such intimacy between Father and Son.

We see such a picture of unity.

We see such a picture of perfect fellowship.

But before there was creation, before there was time, before there was humanity,

before anything else, there was this eternal love, this eternal relationship between Father and Son.

And that the eternal word, something else I had written down to maybe talk about

with regard to God and his names is this idea of author.

It doesn't really call God our author. It does in Hebrews, I guess,

12, our author and perfecter of our faith.

But this idea of God being an author or the author of our faith,

but of life itself, is this idea that all that we know in our very selves and

everything that exists came into being through a word.

And that all of us as humanity, we're the only creature that tells stories.

And there's never been a tribe or people that's ever been discovered across

history that doesn't tell stories.

And we haven't discovered any other type of creature that does tell stories.

Maybe AI, I don't know. Depends on how paranoid you all are.

But that communicates that, that you are a word spoken by God,

the author, and that we are invited in chosen to be a part of that story.

And this is that intimate fellowship between father and son that we see in John

chapter one, that we are invited into.

I wonder if maybe we could, I know some of you have it in front of you, so it'll be easier.

But maybe if we just say John 1, 1 to 5 together out loud, we're all going to

have different translations.

So just embrace it.

Don't get thrown off when somebody says something different than you.

Do we have a general consensus of thumbs up that we're ready to go?

Yeah? All right. Let's say this together.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

He was with God in the beginning.

Through Him, all things were made. Without Him, nothing was made that has been made.

In Him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind.

That light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

That's amazing. Thank you.

We did pretty good with all of the various translations. That was awesome.

So the internal word stepped into our world, not merely to teach us wisdom,

but to come and be wisdom himself.

Jesus is the power and God and wisdom of God to us who has chosen.

So Jesus came in, the eternal God, the eternal word stepped into our world to

become wisdom and be wisdom for us.

The beginning and the end, the intimacy of father and son together.

We encounter these scriptures all across the Bible in Colossians and Philippians,

which we'll talk about just briefly.

In Hebrews, where it says that Jesus, the Christ upholds the universe by the

word of his power, says that he is the radiance, the exact representation of God's glory.

And I'm sure There's some important understanding.

The Greek word is apogazma, which I wrote it down. So somebody must have a dissertation

written about it. It was like 300 pages or something.

But he is the radiance of God's glory, the exact representation,

the intimacy of the Father, the exact imprint of his nature,

even the wisdom that Solomon describes.

And so Solomon writes these words. So, Hebrews says he upholds the universe

by the word of his power, that he's the radiance of God's glory.

Solomon writes that the radiance of eternal light, a spotless mirror of the working of God.

That the New Testament comes alongside these words of wisdom in the Bible and

Proverbs and other Jewish literature and introduces us...

To Jesus, the wisdom of God, the mirror that reflects God's working into the world.

And the New Testament boldly declares that this wisdom has now appeared in a person, in Jesus.

And so we get to 1 Corinthians when we read that, that to those whom God has

called, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God.

He is the power of God that created everything in the beginning.

He is the wisdom of God that reflects all of God's acts into life with us and

demonstrates his character that we may see.

While everyone else is debating, while the philosophers are debating,

while the world searches out for wisdom, those who God has sought out first,

us, arguably everyone who turns to him finally.

Even the Jews and the religious of that time sought signs, but God's wisdom

arrived in the person of Jesus, wearing a crown of thorns and foolishness.

This chapter says that the cross of Christ is foolishness to those who are perishing.

And if you really think about it, the more you'll realize how ridiculous it is.

But God chose what was foolish and what was ridiculous, the shame,

those of us who think we know something.

The cross is the place where the wisdom of God and the power of God become one.

And so as Paul writes that Christ is the wisdom of God, the conclusion we get

from the book of Proverbs is something that is so actionable to us.

Because we know that Proverbs says that the beginning of wisdom is what?

What did you say? Is it the fear of God or is it the beginning of wisdom?

Yeah. It's sort of a trick question because it is the fear of the Lord.

But also in Proverbs chapter 4, it says the beginning of wisdom is this. Get wisdom.

Proverbs 4 · chapter mention

Though it costs you all that you have, get understanding, cherish her and she

will exalt you, embrace her and she will honor you.

So the beginning of wisdom is this, get wisdom at any cost.

And what a powerful word for us as Jesus is the wisdom and power of God.

Whatever it takes, Jesus invited, as he invited those to follow him, right?

There were some that said, God, let me first go and do this.

Jesus, let me first go and bury my father. Let me first do this.

And Jesus's words to them are not maybe the most compassionate light that we would shed on him.

He says, foxes have holes and this and that, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head, right?

Whatever you have to do, leave it all behind and come and follow me.

Get wisdom at any cost. He says, pick up your cross and follow me, right?

He says all of these things as he invites not just the disciples of his time,

but us to come and follow him. And in that word is this echoing of Proverbs chapter 4.

Proverbs 4 · chapter mention

Take a hold of Jesus at any cost, no matter what, because everything,

as Paul writes later, is garbage and worthless when compared to the surpassing worth of knowing Jesus.

Get wisdom, get Jesus.

He is the wisdom of God that came looking for us,

He is the deepest fulfillment of everything that everyone is looking for.

Get Christ, know him, walk with him, love him, treasure him.

As Sandy was talking to the kids, when you find something of great value,

treasure it. And Jesus tells us parables.

The guy who apparently trades pearls, because that's a thing,

when he finds the pearl of great price, he sells everything else to purchase it.

When the guy finds the treasure in the field, he sells all that he has to purchase

the field that the treasure is in.

Whatever it takes, become like him.

We have these words in James 1.

If Katie were here, we could have asked her to tell us because she memorized

it except for the first verse.

The song that she was using to memorize it didn't have the first verse.

In James 1, it says, if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God who gives generously

to all without reproach, and it will be given to you.

We know that Jesus is the wisdom of God. James is the brother of Jesus.

What if he's writing to us?

If any of you are separated from Christ, if any of you are looking for Jesus,

or even if you don't know what that name is or who that is,

if any of you are crying out in the world for Jesus, you need only ask and God

will give you Jesus, the wisdom of God.

Because God delights to give us Christ. God delights to give us wisdom.

We read that in Proverbs chapter nine. God delights to give us himself, to give us Jesus.

God will supply every need in Christ Jesus. I don't know where that verse is,

so somebody can look it up and tell me later.

So don't, let us not merely ask for better decision-making.

Let us not merely ask. We talk about wisdom, the definition of wisdom as the

application of understanding, application of knowledge, which is true.

But let us not just settle for doing things better and making better decisions and being smarter.

Those are all good things that God gives us and all things that we should desire,

but let us not merely seek answers. Let us seek the one who is himself truth.

Let us not merely seek wisdom, but let us seek the one who is the Christ, who is Jesus.

Let us seek Jesus, because when you get Christ, you receive the wisdom of God Himself.

We have this beautiful verse, Philippians 2. I feel like this is probably the

most preached on passage of Scripture in the entirety of the Bible.

We just keep coming back to it. We can't escape it.

Paul writes to us, to have the same mindset as Christ Jesus.

So to exchange our thoughts for God's thoughts, which are better and greater than our thoughts.

To exchange our thoughts of anxiety, to exchange our thoughts of worry,

to exchange our thoughts of I'll never be good enough, to exchange our thoughts

of nobody will love me, to exchange our thoughts of I can't.

And I won't, to exchange our thoughts of it won't get any better than this,

to exchange our thoughts of, I'll always be stuck here, to exchange our thoughts

of whatever it is that it might be for you,

for God's thoughts who are higher than our thoughts, to have the same mindset as Christ Jesus,

the wisdom of God, who being in very nature God, did not consider equality with

God something to be used to his own advantage.

Rather, he made himself nothing. By taking the very nature of a servant,

being made in a human likeness, and being found in appearance as man,

he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross.

Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is

above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven.

And on earth, and under the earth and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ

is Lord to the glory of God the Father.

God, that we would imitate you, Jesus, that we would live like you,

that we would think the same way that you do, that you would lead us into the

fear of the Lord, the beginning of wisdom,

that by all means, at any cost, we might get you.

That we might find the greatest prize, that we might walk into the greatest

inheritance, the inheritance that you have promised to your children.

Your son who has the first fruits walked ahead of us and we get to follow.

And because of his sonship and because you have chosen us and adopted us,

we get to be your children also and receive the greatest inheritance.

We get to receive the greatest gift, the greatest prize, the prize of Jesus.

So may our thoughts align with Jesus.

May our behaviors and beliefs align with Jesus. May our actions align with Jesus.

May we walk in the light of your wisdom.

May we understand and get to know you more and more.

May we get to understand and know and experience more and more Jesus,

the power of God and the wisdom of God to the glory of the Father.