Wisdom from God

We can obtain wisdom from God through the power of the Holy Spirit.

How has smart technology improved your life?

The smartest people in the world aren’t necessarily the most wisest. Have you ever met someone that had a really IQ but yet they they did make good decisions. Some people might refer to that as being book smart but lacking street sense.

We live in a world where information is at out fingertips. Most questions can be anwered by chat gpt. How long do I need to cook chicken on the grill? What’s the fastest way to build credit as a recent college grad? Who is the fastest runner of all times? And BTW, Chat GpT is not always right. I saw a recent news article where a family was suing CHAT GPT because their father asked CHAT GPT if he should go to the ER based on symptoms he was having. Basically, it told him that his symptoms were not life threatening. Later that day the man died of a Pulmonary Embolism.

No AI app, internet website, or human has all the answers. Sometimes we have the right information but we lack the wisdom to act on it appropriately.

Wisdom is the right use of knowledge. To know is not to be wise … There is no fool so great as a knowing fool. But to know how to use knowledge is to have wisdom.

Charles Spurgeon

Wisdom, the wisdom of God, is not something that is acquired by man, but something that is bestowed by God upon his elect. It is a divine endowment and not a human acquisition.

Spiros Zodhiates

1 Corinthians 1:20–25 “Where is the one who is wise? Where is the teacher of the law? Where is the debater of this age? Hasn’t God made the world’s wisdom foolish? For since, in God’s wisdom, the world did not know God through wisdom, God was pleased to save those who believe through the foolishness of what is preached. For the Jews ask for signs and the Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to the Jews and foolishness to the Gentiles. Yet to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God, because God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength.”

Jews sought signs and Greeks sought wisdom, but Paul preached Christ crucified—a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles. (1 Cor 1:18–31) Since the world failed to know God through its own wisdom, God chose to save through the apparent foolishness of the gospel message. (1 Cor 1:18–31) God selected what the world considers foolish and weak to shame the wise and strong.

No amount of human wisdom would dream up the idea that God, the creator of the universe and everything in it, would demonstrate his love for us in that while we were sinners, Christ died for us. The message of the cross flatter our pride neither does it align with the rationale of the nature of mankind. Who on earth would so such a thing? It sounds foolish. Would would choose to die for someone that is considered their enemy?

The foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.

This statement is paradoxical—it doesn’t mean God actually possesses weakness as a deficiency. Rather, Paul is inverting worldly standards of power and value.

1 Corinthians 2:9–11 “But as it is written, What no eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no human heart has conceived— God has prepared these things for those who love him. Now God has revealed these things to us by the Spirit, since the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. For who knows a person’s thoughts except his spirit within him? In the same way, no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.”

Paul quotes Isaiah to emphasize that God has prepared blessings beyond human perception—things “no eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no human heart has conceived.” (1 Cor 2:6–16)

divine wisdom transcends ordinary human knowledge and experience.

Just as a person’s own spirit knows their private thoughts, only God’s Spirit comprehends God’s thoughts. (1 Cor 2:6–16)

the Spirit possesses intimate knowledge of God’s mind because the Spirit is God.

The implication is profound: believers receive “the Spirit who comes from God, so that we may understand what has been freely given to us by God.” (1 Cor 2:6–16)

comprehending divine truth requires spiritual transformation, not merely intellectual capacity.

This passage establishes a critical principle: divine knowledge isn’t earned through human effort or reasoning but granted through the Spirit’s work in believers. The Spirit bridges the gap between God’s infinite wisdom and human limitation, making God’s purposes known to those who belong to Christ. Believers possess “the mind of Christ” (1 Cor 2:6–16)—not through their own achievement, but through the Spirit’s mediation of Christ’s perspective.

1 Corinthians 2:12–16 “Now we have not received the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who comes from God, so that we may understand what has been freely given to us by God. We also speak these things, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual things to spiritual people. But the person without the Spirit does not receive what comes from God’s Spirit, because it is foolishness to him; he is not able to understand it since it is evaluated spiritually. The spiritual person, however, can evaluate everything, and yet he himself cannot be evaluated by anyone. For who has known the Lord’s mind, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.”

How do you discern between worldly wisdom and Godly wisdom in your life?

As we leave today, I hope you’ll ask yourselves, am I living a life that is dependant on wisdom from God or am I reliant on my own knowledge and strength? Prayerfully consider how you might develop a deeper faith and walk with God where you are seeking wisdom from God to walk in obedience to His will in all that you do. Prayerfully asking Him to guide your thoughts and actions every day. Dying to self and to the worldly ways of the flesh.