Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out! “Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor?” “Who has ever given to God, that God should repay them?” For from him and through him and for him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen.
(Romans 11:33-36, includes quotes from Isaiah 40:13 and Job 41:11)
The wisdom of God, according to the website Theopedia.com,
“is sometimes referred to as his omnisapience, just as omniscience means all-knowing, omnisapience means all-wise, etc. By his omniscience, God perfectly knows all possibilities and what would happen if they came to pass. By his omnisapience, his wisdom is perfect so that he knows which course of action is the best (Isaiah 55:8-9; Romans 11:33; Ephesians 1:11-12; 3:10). The wisdom of God is the practical side of God's knowledge, applying knowledge to achieve His desires in ways that will glorify Him the most.[1]
That definition references the following verses:
God’s wisdom involves not only the fact of His omniscience—that He knows everything—but also the fact that He knows, absolutely, what to do with that knowledge to bring about His desired outcome. Think of it in terms of a master craftsman who has all the right tools and is an expert at wielding them. An example of this is Bezalel who was chosen to work on God’s temple:
“Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘See, I have chosen Bezalel son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with wisdom, with understanding, with knowledge and with all kinds of skills—to make artistic designs for work in gold, silver and bronze, to cut and set stones, to work in wood, and to engage in all kinds of crafts.” (Exodus 31:1-5)
But what is the “outcome” toward which God applies His wisdom? Tony Evans asserts:
“God’s wisdom is tied to His purpose. And Paul states His eternal purpose to be ‘the summing up of all things in Christ’ for his glory. Everything God does in wisdom propels creation toward that one purpose, which is the same in history as it is throughout eternity: His own glory….
“Wisdom is arranging things so they meet a goal in the best way possible. God’s wisdom so constructs circumstances and people that they all wind up achieving His goal because there is no higher goal to which they could ever go. God is unique in this….[2]
Here are just a few of the verses that speak about God’s wisdom:
We could go on. But the quote from Jeremiah brings up an important point. God’s wisdom is quite beautifully displayed by creation. First, we are told that the heavens declare the glory of God (Psalm 19:1). If the purpose of God’s wisdom is to display His own glory, that’s a pretty powerful statement. But we can also see God’s wisdom in the way our universe is put together. We have had several guests on our program, including Dr. Stephen Meyer and Dr. Hugh Ross, who have spoken extensively about how God is revealed in even the most minute details of our universe, all the way from the makeup of our DNA, to the beautiful and necessary arrangement of the stars and planets.
No wonder the apostle Paul declared, “Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out!” (Romans 11:33)
Two more favorite authors have made these remarkable statements about God’s wisdom. First, A.W. Tozer, and then J.I. Packer:
“In the Holy Scriptures wisdom, when used of God and good men, always carries a strong moral connotation. It is conceived as being pure, loving, and good.… Wisdom, among other things, is the ability to devise perfect ends and to achieve those ends by the most perfect means. It sees the end from the beginning, so there can be no need to guess or conjecture. Wisdom sees everything in focus, each in proper relation to all, and is thus able to work toward predestined goals with flawless precision.”[3]
“Wisdom is the power to see, and the inclination to choose, the best and highest goal, together with the surest means of attaining it. Wisdom is, in fact, the practical side of moral goodness. As such, it is found in its fulness only in God. He alone is naturally and entirely and invariably wise.”[4]
But what are we to do, how are we to react, when we begin to grasp God’s wisdom? In his article entitled “God is Wisdom,” David Strain suggests:
“…when we begin to appreciate the wonder of the wisdom that inheres in our God… We should bow in adoration and praise. Our greatest struggle in life is to remember that we are creatures. We always want to know, to understand, to get answers to ‘why?’ Godliness learns that we do not always need to know why, but we do need to know the One who knows why. And, lest we fear that the wisdom of God, inscrutable as it is, cannot be trusted, we should look to Jesus Christ, ‘who became to us wisdom from God’ (1 Cor. 1:30). The wisdom of God is on display in Christ, and never more clearly than in His cross. There, the foolishness of God is shown to be wiser than men, and the weakness of God stronger than men. Look to the cross, see the wise God ordering all things for us and for our salvation, and learn anew to trust in Him.”[5]
(We have highlighted the statement “Godliness learns that we do not always need to know why, but we do need to know the One who knows why,” because it is such a profound truth.)
For us, the wisdom of God is not just a theological construct. Rather, “It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption” (1 Corinthians 1:30)!