Jesus The Power and The Wisdom of God

This designation is applied by St. Paul to Christ only once in 1 Corinthians 1:24, "Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God", and in 1:30, he says that Christ was made unto us "wisdom of God, both righteousness and sanctification and redemption".

Other examples of similar usage is Mark 14:62, "at the right hand of (the) Power", and Acts 8:10, "This is the Power of God, which is called Great".  One must hesitate to find a parallel in 1 Corinthians in 1 Corinthians 1:24, since St. Paul, like St. Luke, adds "of God", and possibly he means only that in Christ God's mighty power has come into the world.  "The wisdom of God" is a phrase which can be explained in the same way, but here "of God" does not call for the same interpretation, since "wisdom" may be conceived as the medium of His revelation and rule.    Moreover, Wisdom is half personified in Proverbs 8:22-31:

"The Lord possessed me in the beginning of his way,
Before his works of old.
I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning,
Or ever the earth was...
When he established the heavens, I was there...
When he marked out the foundations of the earth:
Then was I by him, as a master workman:
And I was daily his delight...",

and still more in Ecclesiasticus 1:1, 24:3,9:

"All wisdom cometh from the Lord,
And is with him for ever".

"I came forth from the mouth of the Most High,
And as a mist I covered the earth".

"He created me from the beginning, before the world;
And to the end I shall not fail",

and in passages in which Wisdom is identified with the Law, as in 19:20:

"All wisdom is the fear of the Lord;
And in all wisdom is the fulfilling of the Law".

Most of all is this tendency to be seen in the Alexandrian Book of Wisdom, which was probably read by St. Paul and the author of Hebrews, and especially in the passage 7:26:

"For she is an effulgence from everlasting light,
And an unspotted mirror of the working of God,
And an image of his goodness".

Paul's use of this title is a special attempt to assign to Christ the same supramundane status which he gives to Him elsewhere in the names "Image", "Firstborn", and "Last Adam".

-excerpt was adapted from The Names of Jesus by Vincent Taylor pg 150-2

Jesus The Power and The Wisdom of God (Pt 2)

Christ is  "the wisdom of God." The great things that he did before all worlds were proofs of his wisdom. He planned the way of salvation; he devised the system of atonement and substitution; he laid the foundations of the great plan of salvation. There was wisdom. But he built the heavens by wisdom, and he laid the pillars of light, whereon the firmament is balanced, by his skill and wisdom.

Mark the world; and learn, as ye see all its multitudinous proofs of the wisdom of God, and there you have the wisdom of Christ; for he was the creator of it. And when he became a man, he gave proofs enough of wisdom. Even in childhood, when he made the doctors sit abashed by the questions that he asked, he showed that he was more than mortal. And when the Pharisee and Sadducee and Herodian were all at last defeated, and their nets were broken, he proved again the superlative wisdom of the Son of God.

And when those who came to take him, stood enchained by his eloquence, spell-bound by his marvelous oratory, there was again a proof that he was the wisdom of God, who could so enchain the minds of men.

Now that Christ intercedes before the throne of God, now that he is our Advocate before the throne, the pledge and surety for the blessed, now that the reins of government are in his hands, and are ever wisely directed, we have abundant proofs that the wisdom of God is in Christ, as well as the power of God.

Bow before him, ye that love him; bow before him, ye that desire him! Crown him, crown him, crown him! He is worthy of it, unto him is everlasting might; unto him is unswerving wisdom: bless his name; exalt him; clap your wings, ye seraphs; cry aloud, ye cherubim; shout, shout, shout, to his praise, ye ransomed host above. And ye, O men that know his grace, extol him in your songs for ever; for he is Christ, the power of God and the wisdom of God.

-excerpt adapted from Sermon No. 132 delivered on Sabbath Morning, May 17, 1857, by the REV. C. H. Spurgeon

Jesus The Power and The Wisdom of God (Pt 3)

CHRIST IN A MAN THE GOSPEL IN THE SOUL, is the power of God and the wisdom of God. To the Christian in his own experience Christ is ever the power of God. As for temptation he can meet that with Christ; as for trouble he can endure that through Christ who strengthens him, yea, he can say with Paul, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."

Have you never seen a Christian in trouble, a true Christian? I have read a story of a man who was converted to God by seeing the conduct of his wife in the hour of trouble. They had a lovely child, their only offspring. The father's heart doted on it perpetually, and the mother's soul was knit up in the heart of the little one. It lay sick upon its bed, and the parents watched it night and day. At last it died. The father had no God: he rent his hair, he rolled upon the floor in misery, wallowed upon the earth, cursing his being, and defying God in the utter casting down of his agony. There sat his wife, as fond of the child as ever he could be; and though tears would come, she gently said "The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord." "What," said he, starting to his feet, "you love that child? I thought that when that child died you would break your heart. Here am I, a strong man. I am mad: here are you, a weak woman, and yet you are strong and bold; tell me what it is possesses you?" Said she, "Christ is my Lord, I trust in him; surely I can give this child to him who gave himself for me." From that instant the man became a believer. "There must," said he, "be some truth and some power in the gospel, which could lead you to believe in such a manner, under such a trial." Christians! try to exhibit that spirit wherever you are, and prove to the worldling that in your experience at least "Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God."

In the Christian's experience, Christ is wisdom, as well as power. If you want to be a thoroughly learned man the best place to begin, is to begin at the Bible, to begin at Christ. It is said that even children learn to read more quickly from the Bible than from any other book; and this I am sure of, that we, who are but grown-up children, will learn better and learn faster by beginning with Christ than we could by beginning with any thing else. I remember saying once that before I knew the gospel I gathered up a heterogeneous mass of all kinds of knowledge from here, there, and everywhere; a bit of chemistry, a bit of botany, a bit of astronomy, and a bit of this, that, and the other. I put them altogether, in one great confused chaos. When I learned the gospel, I got a shelf in my head to put every thing away upon just where it should be. It seemed to me as if, when I had discovered Christ and him crucified, I had got the center of the system, so that I could see every other science revolving around in order. From the earth, you know, the planets appear to move in a very irregular manner—they are progressive, retro grade, stationary; but if you could get upon the sun, you would see them marching round in their constant, uniform, circular motion. So with knowledge. Begin with any other science you like, and truth will seem to be awry. Begin with the science of Christ crucified, and you will begin with the sun, you will see every other science moving round it in complete harmony.

The greatest mind in the world will be evolved by beginning at the right end. The old saying is, "Go from nature up to nature's God;" but it is hard work going up hill. The best thing is to go from nature's God down to nature; and if you once get to nature's God, and believe him and love him, it is surprising how easy it is to hear music in the waves, and songs in the wild whisperings of the winds; to see God everywhere, in the stones, in the rocks, in the rippling brooks, and hear him everywhere, in the lowing of cattle, in the rolling of thunder, and in the fury of tempests. Get Christ first, put him in the right place, and you will find him to be the wisdom of God in your own experience.

-excerpt adapted from Sermon No. 132 delivered on Sabbath Morning, May 17, 1857, by the REV. C. H. Spurgeon

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