TUESDAY May 14th
1 Corinthians 1:30–31
‘And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”’
‘‘Wisdom, righteousness and power, holiness for evermore; my redemption full and sure, He is all I need’, you will recall I quoted these words in our previous devotion from the Redemption Hymnal, reminding us as Paul does in our text, that Christ being from God, has become to us as we are found in him, all we need. He has become our wisdom, righteousness, sanctification and redemption. So, without any shadow of doubt Jesus really is all I need, Jesus is really all you need.
We will consider these four points over this week, today wisdom.
In Colossians 2 Paul is writing to encourage the believers so that they would be united, and that they would begin to understand something of the mystery of God, of which he says, ‘which is in Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge’, (verse 2-3).
You will recall that earlier in 1 Corinthians 1, that Paul had said that the foolishness of God is wiser than men, his intention was not to suggest that God was foolish in any way, but to help us to understand that the wisdom of men is sub-standard in comparison to the wisdom of God, and the wisdom of God is to be seen in the message of the cross and through the Lord Jesus Christ. He, that is Jesus became to us wisdom from God. In fact, in verse 24 Paul has said that Christ is not only the wisdom of God, but he is also the power of God.
So, in Christ, through the activity of the cross, and the resurrection, we see wisdom at work. God’s wisdom, and the fruit or the benefit of this wisdom, is that we who are saved, are beneficiaries of the power of the cross which gives to us or brings to us, righteousness, sanctification and redemption.
Imagine if mankind had been left to decide what was to be done to bring about redemption, well, we can see it manifested in some of the other religions of the world, good works, idolatry, pagan sacrifices, a plethora of gods to represent almost anything and everything, sun gods, moon gods, rain gods, a god for love, penance, indulgences etc. And yet with all of what would be summed up as man’s wisdom, or attempts toward salvation, it is utter foolishness, for as a result not a single human being would ever be redeemed.
But in his wisdom, God had a plan, which he revealed through his Son, a wise plan that is considered foolishness to mankind, but nevertheless it is an effective plan, it is the only plan, because God is wiser than all the wisest of men added together, and his plan being outworked through Christ means that the day is coming when myriads will stand before his throne, as we saw last week, redeemed by the blood of the Lamb. A person is justified, not by the law. Or by any other means but through faith in Christ Jesus. As we have believed Christ has become the wisdom of God to each one of us. What others see as foolishness we see the power of God and the wisdom of God at work.
I will repeat the words from the hymn I mentioned recently, ‘Redeemed how I love to proclaim it . . . redeemed, redeemed, redeemed by the blood of the Lamb.’