Wisdom Incarnate: Lesson 3

Overview

Wisdom Incarnate: Christ as the Revelation of God

When Scripture speaks of Christ as wisdom incarnate, two clarifications matter at the outset. First, the personified "Lady Wisdom" of Proverbs is not a direct equivalent of Jesus; Jesus is not female. Second, Jesus is not "created wisdom" in the sense found in Sirach (where wisdom says, "before all ages, in the beginning, he created me"). Jesus is uncreated, co-equal and co-eternal with the Father and the Spirit. He is the eternal Word who "was with God" and "was God" John 1:1-5, present and active at creation (Proverbs 3:19-20; Psalm 104:24; Colossians 1:16-17).

Wisdom, Covenant, and Torah

For Israel, especially in the Second Temple period, wisdom was bound up with God's self-revelation through covenant and Torah. Wisdom set two paths before the hearer: obedience and righteousness, or sin and folly. Adam and Eve faced—and failed—the first such test, choosing disobedience despite God's clear command Genesis 2:15-17. After the fall, the covenant given through Abraham and codified through Moses anchored Israel's identity in God's holy law. Diligent observance of the statutes was itself a witness of wisdom to the surrounding nations Deuteronomy 4:5-6, and Psalm 119 sings of this longing to know God through His law Psalm 119. The non-canonical book of Sirach, influential in Jesus' day, likewise celebrated Torah as wisdom—helpful background, though not Scripture for us.

Christ, the Self-Expression of God

The fulfillment of all this wisdom-and-covenant longing is Jesus Himself. We know the Father because we know the Son. When Jesus asked His disciples who He was, Peter confessed, "You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God." Jesus answered that flesh and blood had not revealed this—only the Father Matthew 16:13-17. Peter's confession is pure wisdom, and it is counterintuitive to the world. The world had other guesses—John the Baptist, Elijah, a prophet—each born of folly. True wisdom recognizes that the man walking dusty roads with His disciples is God in the flesh.

Living as a Wise People

What does this mean for us? First, our wisdom is not self-generated; it is given to us in Christ. We may feel foolish by the world's measure, but we have been entrusted with what the world cannot reason its way into. Second, this wisdom is sustained by remaining in God's Word. We are not earning a covenantal standing through ritual righteousness, as the Second Temple Jew sought to do; rather, the righteousness of Christ lives in us, and the fruit of the Spirit grows as we abide in the vine. As Paul put it, "It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me." Finally, to be Christ's church in the world means refusing to compromise God's Word in order to befriend the world. We stand firm, clothed in the armor of God, trusting that His Word will not return empty—it will create faith, transform lives, and shape us into the people He has designed us to be.

Transcript

Lord Jesus, we thank You so much. 3s

We thank You for the gift of life that we have in You. 5s

We thank You so much that You have called us to be Your own and that You have revealed 9s

Yourself to us through Your Word. 15s

Lord, we ask that You would use this time of study that we would know You better, that 18s

we would be enriched in Your Spirit and that we would go forth from here proclaiming the 24s

good news of all that You have done. 31s

Lord, we lift this to You in the Holy Name of Jesus Christ, Amen. 34s

So just a reminder that as we go through this series, which we have today and then two 39s

more weeks of wisdom incarnate, and then we're going to go over into, not go over, but 45s

we're going to start an adult ed on Galatians. 53s

We're going to go through Galatians with Martin Luther. 57s

I'm really excited about that one. 60s

But we are asking, we're asking as we talk about wisdom incarnate and Jesus being that 61s

wisdom, we're asking ourselves, what does it mean for me to follow Christ in my life and 70s

in this place? 75s

And what does it mean for us today to be His church in the world? 77s

So we are going to come back to these questions toward the end of this class today. 80s

Oh, man. 90s

I'm kind of thinking about switching things around a little bit. 92s

Why not? 96s

Okay. 97s

Happy New Year. 98s

Okay. 100s

So, really interesting. 101s

There are, in researching this and in studying this and preparing for class, a couple of things 104s

or ideas that I've bumped up against, which I think are really interesting. 112s

As Jesus being the wisdom incarnate, our first of all, in the book of Proverbs, and we're 119s

not going to venture into that deeply because we are going to have a sermon series in the 126s

near future on Proverbs, but in Proverbs, wisdom is personified as a woman. 132s

And so we know Jesus is not a woman. 140s

And so when we're talking about wisdom incarnate and talking about Christ, we're not trying 144s

to equate the personified wisdom in Proverbs with Jesus. 151s

So that's one of the things. 160s

And the other thing is created wisdom. 162s

That wisdom is something that God created. 166s

So in Syrac, and we'll talk about that in just a little bit here, wisdom personified 169s

says, before all ages in the beginning, he created me and through all ages, I shall not 177s

cease to be. 183s

But we know that Jesus is not created, that he was and always will be co-equal with the 185s

father and the spirit co-eternal. 194s

So if we open our Bibles to the book of John or the Gospel of John, chapter one, the Gospel 198s

of John, chapter one, so this is right in the beginning of the New Testament. 206s

It's the fourth Gospel, so we have Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. 210s

And we're going to just go straight to the first chapter looking at verses one through 214s

three, where the apostle, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, writes, in the beginning 221s

was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 227s

He was in the beginning with God. 233s

All things came into being through him and without him, not one thing came into being. 235s

What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people, and 241s

the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it. 247s

So we ended up stretching that into the fifth verse. 250s

But in Proverbs, chapter three, verses 19 and 20, we read the Lord by wisdom founded the 253s

earth by understanding he established the heavens, by his knowledge, the deeps broke open, 261s

and the clouds dropped down the dew. 268s

Psalm 104, verse 24, O Lord, how manifold are your works in wisdom you have made them 272s

all. 279s

The earth is full of your creatures, and we know that Jesus was at creation. 280s

If we go to collusion, so right now we're in the book of John, we're going to go over 287s

to the right, pass the book of Acts, pass the Romans and 1st and 2nd Corinthians, Galatians, 291s

Ephesians, and then we're going to find ourselves at Philippians, go one more to collusions, 298s

chapter 1, verses 16 through 17, where we read in him, that is Jesus, in him, all things 306s

in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions 318s

or rulers or powers, all things have been created through him and for him. 325s

He himself is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 331s

So, when we talk about wisdom and wisdom incarnate, we're not talking about the personified 338s

lady wisdom in Proverbs, and we're not talking about created wisdom that comes out of one 350s

of the books of wisdom in the apocryphal. 358s

We'll talk more about that in here. 363s

But we know that Jesus is the revelation of God. 366s

And so, having been before creation, just existing with the Father and the Spirit, Jesus is that word that goes forth, 374s

he is the living word of God, and we have in the Gospel of John that he is the word, the word was God, 393s

or the word was with God and the word was God. 400s

And then it goes on to talk about how the word became flesh, that is Jesus Christ. 404s

So, we'll probably come over this a little bit again, but, okay, so thinking about wisdom in Israel, 409s

in that second temple period of Judaism, wisdom voice, wisdom's voice in Israel was a form of God's self-revelation. 421s

So, God would reveal Himself to the Israelite people through wisdom, and true wisdom for Israel is the wisdom that of the Creator, 432s

and it's the covenant between Yahweh and the Israelite people. 443s

So, there is this covenantal relationship that the Israelite people have with or had with Yahweh and it's fundamental in understanding where the Jewish perspective, especially the second temple period, Jew is going to understand wisdom. 450s

For Israel, wisdom invites the hereer to choose between two paths. 476s

So, in wisdom, or with wisdom, the person has the choice to be obedient, to choose the path of wisdom, the path of obedience and righteousness, or the path of sin, which is wicked and disobedient. 483s

And so, the wise will choose the path of righteousness, while the unwise will choose the path of wickedness and disobedience. 500s

In Genesis, Adam and Eve failed the very first test of wisdom. 511s

They chose that path of disobedience. 520s

They knew they had been commanded by God. 525s

Let's go to Genesis. 530s

Genesis, chapter 2. 531s

Let's see here. 542s

Sorry, maybe one. 546s

Let's go to chapter 2. 550s

Okay. 553s

Okay, chapter 2, beginning in verse 15, the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to till it and keep it. 554s

And the Lord God commanded the man, you may freely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you shall not eat. 565s

For in the day that you eat of it, you shall die. 575s

So, he gave a very direct command. 580s

Now, when Moses receives the commandments, I just sounded really like Minnesota there or something, Moses received the commandments for the Israelites people. 583s

It was post the fall. 596s

And so, God pre-fall in the garden of Eden when he is giving this command to Adam, there is this an errant righteousness in it that this is, you know, as men made in the image of God, this is what we do. 598s

And he commands him and he gives him the warning of what will happen, but Adam does not have a context for what that looks like either. 621s

He's the first man. 631s

He doesn't know life outside of God's perfection. 633s

So, Adam and Eve then break. 636s

They choose a path of wickedness. 642s

They choose a path of disobedience. 646s

And through that sin enters into the world. 649s

And so, this covenantal relationship before the fall, this God is man's God and man is worshiping God, that is broken. 653s

And so, when the Jewish people receive the holy law of God through Moses, then they once again are in that covenantal. 670s

It's built out of that relationship between God and Abraham, that covenant that God made with Abraham. 683s

But it's all founded in the righteous, holy and perfect law of God. 690s

And so, Wisdom and Torah, the Torah, that is the law, were deeply connected for the second period Jewish person. 698s

If we go over to Deuteronomy, which this is the last, the fifth book in the Pentateuch, so you have Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy. 706s

Deuteronomy chapter 4, verses 5 through 6. 717s

We read, see, just as the Lord, my God has charged me, I now teach you statutes and ordinances for you to observe in the land that you are about to enter and occupy. 726s

You must observe them diligently, for this will show your wisdom and discernment to the peoples who, when they hear all these statutes, will say, surely this great nation is a wise and discerning people. 737s

So following these statutes diligently, adhering steadfastly to the perfect and holy law of God, was proving one to be wise, where others would see that they were wise. 754s

So, and you see how that wisdom and righteousness are very, very intertwined and linked together here through that. 773s

So, the book of Syrac, this is in the apocrypha, the apocrypha is not canonical. It's not part of the Jewish canon. 782s

And it is so that means it's not part of the official scripture for the Jewish people. And it is not part of the Protestant canon. 795s

So, we do not hold the apocrypha, these books that make up that apocrypha. We do not hold these as scripture. They are not God-breathed. They are helpful. They are that inter-testimate period. 804s

So, between the old and the New Testament, it gives us some history. It can be helpful, but it is not God's word for us. 819s

So, in that, we have the book of Syrac. And Syrac was, the book of Syrac is wisdom literature. So, it's considered to be a book of wisdom. 831s

It's not canonical, but it was influential in the second temple period. So, the Jews that were of Jesus' time would have been familiar with this book of wisdom. 844s

Syrac celebrates the Torah or the law as wisdom. In it, it says, reflect on the precepts of the Lord. Let his commandments be your constant meditation. Then he will enlighten your mind. And the wisdom you desire, he will grant. 859s

So, for the second temple period, Jew, God's revelation to them and his covenant to them was centered in his law. It was centered in the Torah. 876s

And adhering to those righteous requirements, which if you go through Leviticus and Numbers, it really, the Torah gets expanded heavily. 889s

And there are ceremonial laws, there are dietary laws, or dietary laws, there are holy day laws, there are rights that have to be performed. 902s

And so, the covenantal and righteous relationship between Yahweh and his people is really, really founded, or it is very fundamental in the righteous and perfect law of God. 912s

If we go to Psalm 119, this is in the middle of your Bible, Psalm 119, it's a long Psalm. It's really beautiful. If you've not read through it, which who are we kidding? Of course you've read through it. 926s

So, but it's really beautiful. And it is this Psalm, this song lifted to the Lord about his law. The little subtitle here in my Bible, it says, the glories of God's law. 942s

And we can see in here, you know, various, various verses, the happier those who keep his decrees, who seek him with their whole heart, who also do no wrong, but walk in his ways. 961s

You have commanded your precepts to be kept diligently. Let's see, with my whole heart, I seek you, do not let me stray from your commandments. 976s

I treasure your word in my heart so that I may not sin against you. Open my eyes so that I may be whole, the wondrous things out of your law. 986s

My soul is consumed with longing for your ordinances at all times. You rebuke the insolent, accursed ones who wander from your commandments. And so it's this deep connection and longing to be righteous before the Lord through the law. 997s

That is where wisdom is. In for the second temple period, in Jesus' time, it was really seeking to be blameless or the person, the Jewish person was seeking to be blameless before God and seeking to know him through his law. 1024s

The one not to seek wisdom will be the one that is punished and turned out. Now I'm going to go skip over what I did because remember we flipped things around. So you've already got those things. 1048s

Okay, so we talked about earlier how Jesus then is at creation and wisdom for the Jewish person is in the revelation of God. 1061s

Well, we know that God reveals Himself in Christ. God reveals Himself in Jesus Christ. God made man. Jesus, we read throughout scripture, throughout the New Testament that Jesus is the self expression of God. 1074s

We know God, the Father, because we know God, the Son. In, let's go to Matthew. This is the first gospel, the first book in the New Testament. 1097s

Matthew chapter 16. So if wisdom is founded in the covenant that one has with God, then we as a Christian people can see that there is a hole in the second here. 1113s

We can have no greater wisdom than having redemption through Jesus Christ revealed to us. Right? Does that make sense? It made sense in my brain. I'm making sure it made sense in out of my mouth. Okay, perfect. Just making sure. 1134s

Do you ever do that where you kind of go, I don't know if that came out right. So okay, anyway, so, so we know we are, we have wisdom from God because we have Christ Himself who has been revealed to us, who is God revealed to us. 1147s

So in Matthew chapter 16, beginning in verse 15, this is as, as they're walking along, let's go, let's just back up to verse 13. Now when Jesus came into the district of Cicilia, Cicilia, Philippi, he asked his disciples, who do people say that the Son of man is? 1170s

And they said, some say John the Baptist, but others Elijah and still others Jeremiah are one of the prophets. He said to them, but who do you say that I am? 1192s

Simon Peter answered, you are the Messiah, the Son of the living God and Jesus answered him, blessed are you Simon, Son of Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my father in heaven. 1204s

So Peter, dear Peter, he spoke with pure wisdom because he was claiming Christ as had been revealed to him by the father. He knows that Christ is the Messiah and the Messiah is God, is Jesus. 1219s

And so he speaks with wisdom. I think it's really interesting thinking about this conversation through the context of wisdom because we've talked about how wisdom, God's wisdom is counterintuitive and counterculture to what we find in the world. 1245s

And here Jesus is saying, what's the world saying about me? What are people saying about me? And they have, there are ideas, but those are ideas born in folly, those are ideas that are wrong and incorrect. 1271s

And so here Peter is speaking wisdom and it can't be from the world because it's counterintuitive. How could this man that they spend all day with walking around, how could he be God and yet he is? 1290s

So what does this mean? We're going back to those questions. What does this mean for me to follow Christ in my life and in this place? 1310s

Well first of all, the wisdom of God is all founded in knowing Christ. We are wise because we have Christ. 1323s

We're not wise in ourselves. And so when we go into the world and we are interacting with the world around us, we may feel foolish when we compare ourselves to the world around us, but we have wisdom revealed to us. 1336s

And so we remain steadfast. And I think it's really important as people who follow Christ, as people who seek to be in that covenantal relationship that has been granted to us by God's mercy and grace. 1358s

And we seek to grow in that and he continues to shape us and mold us. It's so important for us to remain in his word always. Always, always, always. I know we've talked about this. I'm sure we've talked about this several times, but we know God through his word. 1377s

We know him as he reveals himself to us through it. And it doesn't matter how many times we read through the Bible, we could read one passage over and over and over again. And something new will strike. God will open himself to us every day as we grow deeper in our following Christ. 1400s

We grow deeper in wisdom, knowing Christ and we're grabbing hold tighter and tighter to that covenantal relationship, not as the second temple period Jewish person had where it's all based on those acts of righteousness and trying to live a certain way. 1427s

But as we have that life given to us through Jesus and we seek to grow in that and cling to that, then those the righteous acts, they're no longer an act, but it's the righteousness that comes by living in Christ and it's his righteousness. 1452s

What is Paul right in Galatians? It is not I who live, but Christ who lives in me. It's the fruit of the spirit that is pouring forth and the fruit of the spirit is only pouring forth or sprouting, butting when we are attached to the vine, when we are in the word, when we are nourished and nurtured and sustained in God's wisdom. 1476s

Also, what does it mean for us today to be his church in the world? And I think this is really important. I think it is absolutely necessary that as the church in the world today, we remain steadfast and consistent and unshaking from God's Word. 1505s

There are too many that are willing to compromise God's Word in order to make friends with the world. We cannot do that. That doesn't mean that we go out ready to, you know, but we do, we do have the armor of God. 1531s

We have to remain steadfast in his Word. I can't tell you, I could probably, could tell you, there have been really, you'll have interesting conversations. You'll have interesting conversations. 1555s

But we remain steadfast because we also have the promise that God's Word will go forth and that it will not return to him empty. It will do what it is purposed to do. 1574s

And what God's Word is purposed to do is to go forth, to create faith, to call people in, right, and to transform and mold us and shape us so that we are more and more the creation that God has made us to be and that God has designed us to be. 1589s

Thank you. 1623s