“By me kings reign.” ~Wisdom
Proverbs 8.15
Wisdom is a gift of God that is developed by responding faithfully in the crucible of discipline. Wisdom does not come merely by reading books, listening to sermons, or receiving counsel. All of those things and more are necessary, but there is no substitute for experience, the place where your senses are exercised by habitual practice to discern good and evil (Heb 5.14). Discipline involves suffering; therefore, no discipline is pleasant but painful (Heb 12.11). However, it is only through discipline that we are trained in wisdom, and wisdom is necessary for us to grow up to be like God and to accomplish our mission of dominion in the world. To become kings, we need wisdom. To gain wisdom, we must endure suffering.
The pattern for gaining wisdom through suffering is established in the beginning, even before the fall. God’s son, Adam, was created as an individual man who was given the task of dominion. That task could not be completed alone. God declared that it was not good that man should be alone. God led his son to see that his condition was not good as he exercised his first act of dominion by naming the animals. Adam sees that they come in pairs, male and female. They correspond to one another. He doesn’t have a female who corresponds to him. So (using a bit of imagination here), he calls out to his Father, “All these animals come in pairs as male and female. I’m alone. This isn’t good. I need a female who will correspond to me.”
Recognizing what his Father wanted him to realize, Adam began his journey in wisdom, understanding how the world was supposed to work, seeing his lack, and calling to his Father for help. The Father responded by taking Adam into a death-sleep, ripping out his side, and creating his Lady Wisdom, the one who would help him reign over the creation, developing and putting everything in the right relationship with every other thing in the world.
To gain wisdom, Adam had to experience death. This was a clue to how wisdom for rule would be achieved in the future.
Originally, God prohibited the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. That phrase, knowledge of good and evil, appears elsewhere in Scripture, referring to mature, wise judgments. Kingly judgments (2Sm 14.17; 1Kg 3.7-9; Heb 5.14; cp. Dt 1.39; Num 14.29). God told the man and woman that every tree would be for them for food (Ge 1.29). So, we can assume that the fruit of this tree would eventually be given to them. As Adam fulfilled his Garden responsibilities and began to think about pressing out into the land of Eden and beyond, he would recognize his need for more wisdom to rule the unformed and unfilled earth. He would ask his Father for wisdom when he recognized his lack of wisdom. The Father would give him the fruit of this tree, he would die, but then he would be raised with wisdom to rule. Wisdom would come through death.
Jesus is born a king and proclaimed king throughout his ministry. When he enters Jerusalem several days before his crucifixion, he enters as king (Jn 12.13). In John’s Gospel, John shows up to that point how Jesus has been a faithful king, enduring tests and performing signs that delivered God’s people. The apex of those signs is the resurrection of Lazarus in chapter 11. He has conquered the old creation. Lazarus will die again, so Jesus needs wisdom to rule death so that he can grant resurrection that will result in an unending life. He is ready to grow in wisdom to conquer the sting of sin that makes death a permanent state.
To gain this wisdom, he must experience death. He is ready to reign, so now he must go to the Tree and eat its fruit, trusting his Father to awaken him from his death and provide for him his Lady Wisdom. The Triumphal Entry is Jesus’ final approach to that Tree.
As we follow Jesus, our growth in wisdom mimics his. To gain wisdom, we must endure the discipline of the Father who will take us through deaths of all sorts to cause us to grow in wisdom. There are no shortcuts, no hacks, no silver bullets, no piece of advice, no memory verse, and no amount of reading books that will achieve wisdom immediately. Discipline is meant to be endured. You must walk through difficulties responding faithfully to this gift from your Father, who is training you to rule more. God’s word and promises must guide and strengthen your heart and mind as you respond, trusting that he is teaching you wisdom.
Take up the cross. Follow Jesus. The crown of wisdom is on the other side.
Photo by Cody Board on Unsplash
