Puzzling Out God's Wisdom and Grace

We serve a mysterious God. We don't always know just what it is He is up to. We don't know why He put us on this earth. The self-sacrifice of Christ makes no sense to us. His great love for the often wretched humanity defies logic.

Paul makes note of this mystery in 1 Corinthians 2.

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. (vs 6-8)

Here we learn not only about the mystery of God's wisdom, but in some small part why He keeps it hidden. In short, we wouldn't know what to do with the knowledge if we had it. He allows us to act out of our own ignorance so that His glory may be fulfilled. As Paul says, if we knew -- if we understood -- what God understands, we would never have crucified Christ. But Christ had to be crucified to fulfill God's plan to free us from sin.

You see, from the very beginning -- with Adam and Eve -- God knew that mere knowledge wasn't enough. Indeed, knowledge could be dangerous. But God tempers His great knowledge with infinite love and grace. Love and grace of which you and I are simply incapable. So yes, he keeps the depth of His wisdom hidden from us, and yet, He also reveals pieces of this great mystery, little by little, through His spirit. To continue Paul's narrative...

However, as it is written:

"What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived" -- the things God has prepared for those who love Him. These are the things God has revealed to us by His Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. For who knows a person's thoughts except their own spirit within them? In the same way, no one knows the thoughts of God except by the Spirit of God." (vs.9-11)

So, because we have the mind of Christ, God reveals His plan, a piece of His mystery, through the understanding of His word.

And, until I have that full understanding, I praise God that He knows all, and sees all, and loves me anyway.

And He Will Be Called: Wonderful Counselor

For to us a child is born,
    to us a son is given,
    and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
    Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
    Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. (Isaiah 9:6)

For many of us, our first prayer is a cry for help. Often, we're looking for a way out of some mess in which we've found -- or, usually, gotten -- ourselves. This cry for salvation will set the tone for our relationship with Him in the future. Salvation from sin. Help from trouble. And of course, there's nothing wrong with this -- it is in Jesus' very nature to assist in time of need. 

But sometimes, I find myself crying out for help because of a failure on my own part: the failure to look to Him first for guidance. We look at Scripture, and find Jesus healing, and preaching, and prophesying... but we don't look beyond to see Him as the Wonderful Counselor. The wise friend we can trust to be honest, forthright, and -- importantly -- always right. 

It's easy to go to our friends for advice on finances, or our marriage, or our children. But what about Jesus? I admit, I sometimes forget to ask Him. I'll ask advice from my dad, my friends, my pastor -- all of whom can offer wise counsel, for sure. But then I forget to ask God what He would have me do. 

Job was somebody in dire need of good counsel. His friends sought to give him advice, and failed miserably. His wife offered equally horrific advice ("curse your God and die," I believe). But through the noise, Job remembered where to look for true wisdom: “To God belong wisdom and power; counsel and understanding are his." (Job 12:13)

David, whose life was often fraught with threat and trouble, also knew to whom he could turn when he needed a word of wisdom. "I will praise the Lord who counsels me," he says in Psalm 16:7. "Even at night, my heart instructs me."

This week, I'm taking the time out to reflect on the names of the Messiah, given in Isaiah 9. Today, I remember He is rightly called "Wonderful Counselor," and it is my prayer that I take His name to heart. When I need advice, a word of wisdom, my God and my Savior is also my Wonderful Counselor, and I can always trust in His word.