Week 1 – “The Beginning of Wisdom”—October 12

Series: Living with Wisdom in Our World Today

Date: October 12

Text: Proverbs 1:1–7; James 3:13–18; Psalm 111:10

Big Idea:

True wisdom begins with fearing the Lord—learning to live skillfully under God’s design in a complex world. Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Job together show us that wisdom is not just knowing what’s right but learning how to walk faithfully when life is clear, confusing, or completely broken.

INTRODUCTION

In genesis chapter 1 God creates the heavens and the earth over 6 days and then in the middle of all that God creates us. In the middle of forming birds and animals earth and water sky and planets God creates man.

Genesis 1:26 ESV

26 Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

God doesn't just create man as just another piece of creation he creates man in his image. In his likeness. And he gives man dominion over the fish the birds the livestock over the earth and everything else Genesis 1:27

Genesis 1:27 ESV

27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.

and to make them point more clearly the Bible says God created man and female in his image. And he gave us dominion over the earth. He gave us the opportunity to rule as his image bearers on earth period to create to make to build to multiply across the earth. He gives us everything

And to get us started he puts mankind in the middle of a spectacular garden to work it and to keep it period from the very beginning before the cursed work was part of things.

Genesis 2:15 ESV

15 The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it.

he gave Adam 1 restriction right don't eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil because when you eat a bit you will die.

And so Adam and Eve live in the garden they work the garden they live in paradise until they are tempted right the serpent comes along tempts them to disobey God tempts them to eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

As a result of this disobedience man and woman are cursed and pushed out of the garden. When they were in the garden they literally walked and talked with God now they can't because they know evil.

When God created heaven and earth the most repeated phrase in all of the creation account is good or tove. It is good he saw it and it was good God created man and it was good God created land and it was good God repeats this again and again and again it was good. Adam and Eve living and walking and talking with God that was good. But when sin entered things it stopped being good and it became broken.

Ever since that moment mankind has lived struggling to figure out how to live and get back to good. How to fix the brokenness that sin brings into the world.

Throughout the Old Testament we have God providing temporary ways for the Israelites and for mankind to deal with this problem of sin and get back to good. He provides the sacrificial system. He provides profits that call the people back to him he provides an example people in the Israelites to show the nations how to relate to him and what good could look like. But the problem of what is good doesn't get fixed until Jesus. The problem of this brokenness that sin brought doesn't get solved until the cross of Jesus Christ. He brings us back to God. He defeats sin and death. In fact that's what we just got done celebrating at the end of revelation as the victory of Jesus. The ultimate defeat of the servant.

But we currently live in the land between. We're not walking in the garden with God because of the problem of sins in the world we live in. We're not living in the reality of Satan being completely defeated and cast into the burning lake yet. Today we are living with victory but we are still wrestling with the question of how do we live rightly in God's sight. How do we get back to good?

This is where the question of wisdom comes into play. Wisdom is knowledge put into action. It's what is good lived out. It's good in action.

We need wisdom today to live in God's world. We need wisdom to live facing sicknesses and disease. We need wisdom to live with parenting and marriage questions period we need wisdom to live as good citizens in a political world. We need wisdom to live rightly in each phase of life. Sin creeps into every one of those phases of life and we need God's help to get back to the good that he originally intended for us. The beautiful good world he created.

We need wisdom.

In one sense all of the Bible is about wisdom. All of the Bible is about how humanity can live rightly before God. From genesis to revelation that's the consuming question.

But in the middle of the Bible we actually have three voices that focus a little more sharply on this question.

Illustration: Three Friends at a Table

So in order to understand what the Bible has to say on this idea of wisdom and specifically what books that we understand as the wisdom books have to say I want you to picture three friends sitting around a table talking about life.

First of all there is is the young and optimistic teacher. She is confident and disciplined eager to teach you how life works when you follow God's ways.—any guesses as to which book this is? —Proverbs

Next we have a middle-aged philosopher world weary brilliant but skeptical of easy answers he seemed too much to believe that life always works neatly.—any guesses on this one? —Ecclesiasties

Finally we have an older wise sufferer. Scarred by life but deeply faithful. He knows that even when nothing makes sense God remains trustworthy.—any guesses on this guy? —Job.

Imagine these three voices as 3 characters sitting around the table having a conversation about life. And they're inviting us to the table to talk about how to live wisely in God's world.

And if we listen to these three voices all three of them we will come out with what the speaker and pastor Tim Mackey describes A sophisticated account of human experience .

A “sophisticated account of human experience,” -Tim Mackie

Together, they give us a “sophisticated account of human experience,” as Mackie puts it .

So our plan is over the next six weeks leading up to the week before Thanksgiving to take time to listen to these three voices. In the middle of this we'll have a missions Sunday where we will listen to these voices speak about living well and sharing the gospel. My hope is that by listening to these three voices we will be better equipped to understand what wisdom looks like when life goes as planned, when life feels meaningless, and when life falls apart in all of those circumstances we need to wrestle with and understand how to live with wisdom.

I. WHAT IS WISDOM?

Proverbs 1:1–7 ESV

1 The proverbs of Solomon, son of David, king of Israel: 2 To know wisdom and instruction, to understand words of insight, 3 to receive instruction in wise dealing, in righteousness, justice, and equity; 4 to give prudence to the simple, knowledge and discretion to the youth— 5 Let the wise hear and increase in learning, and the one who understands obtain guidance, 6 to understand a proverb and a saying, the words of the wise and their riddles. 7 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.

Text: Proverbs 1:1–7

Wisdom isn’t about information; it’s about formation.

It’s the ability to live well in God’s world — to align your life with the Creator’s design.

The Compass

Hold up a compass.

“There are many directions in life, but only one True North — the fear of the Lord.”

Key Idea:

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” (Proverbs 1:7).

That phrase doesn’t mean terror — it means awe, reverence, and trust.

In the Hebrew culture wisdom was ancient and time tested it was something that stood the test of time and endured it wasn't the newest idea but it was something that worked for your grandparents and worked for you.

Today with an extraordinary rate of development it's easy to get swept up into the idea that newer is better. But that's not always true.

In God’s economy, older often means truer — wisdom that has stood the test of time.

Reflection Question:

What voices guide you most — the newest trends or timeless truth?

II. WISDOM’S THREE VOICES

Introduce the three symbols from your new series image:

Proverbs

📜 Scroll or Lamp

The Teacher

“Live wisely and life generally works well.”

Ecclesiastes

⏳ Hourglass / Vapor

The Philosopher

“Life is fleeting—fear God even when it seems pointless.”

Job

☁️ Storm and Light

The Sufferer

“Even when life collapses, trust God’s goodness.”

These books don’t contradict each other — they complete each other.

Proverbs gives us the rule, Ecclesiastes gives us the exception, and Job shows us how to worship in the mystery .

Application:

When life is predictable — listen to Proverbs.

When life feels empty — lean into Ecclesiastes.

When life is painful — cling to Job.

Together, they train us for every season of life.

III. THE FEAR OF THE LORD: THE FOUNDATION

Text: Psalm 111:10; Proverbs 9:10

Psalm 111:10 ESV

10 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; all those who practice it have a good understanding. His praise endures forever!

Proverbs 9:10 ESV

10 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight.

Illustration: The Builder’s Level or Plumb Line

Show a level or plumb line and explain:

“A wall may look straight until you hold up a level. The fear of the Lord is the level of our lives — it shows whether we’re truly aligned with God’s wisdom.”

Key Point:

To fear the Lord is to trust His character, submit to His authority, and shape every part of life around His truth.

Reflection Question:

What part of my life feels “off level”?

What would it look like to realign my decisions to God’s design?

IV. APPLYING WISDOM IN OUR WORLD TODAY

Seek Ancient Wisdom Daily.

Read one proverb a day — begin absorbing God’s “plumb line” truths.

Be Teachable.Proverbs begins, “Listen, my child, to your father’s instruction.”

Ask someone older in faith to mentor you.

Remember: in biblical culture, age brings authority, not irrelevance .

Practice Reflection.

When something goes wrong, ask: “What does Proverbs say? What would Job remind me of? What might Ecclesiastes challenge me to rethink?”

Learn to let Scripture talk to itself — hold tension without losing trust.

Live Missionally with Wisdom.

Wise living is attractive. When we live with integrity, humility, and faith, the world sees the beauty of God’s order and grace.

Conclusion

Proverbs 9:10 ESV

10 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight.

Pray:

“Lord, teach us to live wisely in a foolish world — to trust Your design when life is clear, confusing, or chaotic. Begin Your work of wisdom in us today.”

Closing Community Prayer

Matthew 6:9–13 ESV

9 Pray then like this: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. 10 Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. 11 Give us this day our daily bread, 12 and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. 13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.