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God's Ultimate Wisdom

Have we ever began a project, gotten halfway or even all the way through only to realize there was a better way of accomplishing it. Creation was resisting us the whole way, yet we continued to do it the wrong way or least efficient way. God's great creation has supplied patterns and hierarchy for everything. Call them archetypes, ultimate truth,they are road maps with great meaning to help us navigate this world.

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Here some passages of Scripture on the subject of God’s wisdom:

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Proverbs 3:19 The Lord by wisdom founded the earth, by understanding he established the heavens.

Jeremiah 10:12 It is He who made the earth by His power,
Who established the world by His wisdom;
And by His understanding He has stretched out the heavens.

Romans 16:27 to the only wise God,through Jesus Christ, be the glory forever. Amen.

Job 12:13 “With Him are wisdom and might;
To Him belong counsel and understanding.

Ephesians 1:8 Which He lavished on us.In all wisdom and insight.

Ephesians 3:10 so that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the church to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly places.

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When we combine words in the English language by adding the word “all” we come up with another word. If someone is all knowing in knowledge and science they are omniscient. We use the word omniscience. If we add the word “all” to the word power or powerful we construct the word omnipotent. If we had the word all which can mean present everywhere when combined with the word presence we see the word Omnipresent.

It's unfortunate that the word Smith's of our day did not make a combination word for one with all wisdom. We can't say Omniwisdom. There are 470,000 entries in the Webster's dictionary yet we do not have a word for all wisdom. Wisdom is different than knowledge. Wisdom is applied knowledge.

As we look at the attributes of God, we realize that He is infinite. Therefore he is infinitely wise. Therefore God's wisdom is ultimate. We see the attributes of God always as ultimate attributes.There is no other who shares these attributes fully with God. The attributes of God help us to know who God is. The attributes of God give us a filter to run our thoughts about him and how you will respond. We see the ultimate wisdom of God everywhere we look even beyond the text of Scripture.

Let's take another look once again at the first three scriptures that were presented.

Proverbs 3:19 the Lord by wisdom founded the earth, by understanding he established the heavens.

Jeremiah 10:12 It is He who made the earth by His power,
Who established the world by His wisdom;
And by His understanding He has stretched out the heavens.

We see with God there is wisdom,Understanding and discretion. There is Godly wisdom founding, there is God by wisdom establishing, there's God by wisdom understanding with discretion. There is wisdom founding the earth. There is wisdom that established the world. Wisdom then stretched out the heavens. These are not all the Scriptures in reference to the wisdom of God.

Let's talk about faith for a moment. We do not reason so that we might believe. We reason because we already believe. We see this with archetypes. When revealed, archetypes resonate. Archetypes are here whether we embrace them or not. Faith is the knowledge that you already know, and because you do know, you can reason about it and put that faith into action. We understand faith as a word with four parts.

Faith is your BOAT. Believe, Obedience, Action, Trust.

For God's wisdom to manifest in your life,we need to believe that his wisdom is bedrock truth. We need to be obedient to the wisdom God shares. Wisdom is not wisdom unless there's an action step. Wisdom is when words and actions line up. We need to trust God in the process of activating His wisdom. It is futile to try and prove that God is wise. An embittered soul will refuse to see even when they're sitting in the very creation that was founded on God's infinite wisdom. The worshiping heart already knows that God is wise. I'm not here to prove that God is wise because we understand God's attributes, the mysteries and brilliance of Scripture, and creation already prove it.

To make a demand on God to prove Himself,already above and beyond what He has already accomplished, is pretty contemptuous. There are few instances in Scripture, one of which in the book of Job, where Jobs contemptuous heart does not play well with God. Remember, Job was a prophet. This is an archetypal lesson for all people, prophetic or other.

Job 38:4 “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell Me, if you have understanding,

Job 38:5 Who set its measurements, since you know?Or who stretched the line on it?

Job 38:6 “On what were its bases sunk? Or who laid its cornerstone,

Job 38:7 When the morning stars sang together, And all the sons of God shouted for joy?

It continues as a good read for those who think they are special and know everything.Beyond pride of knowledge, to think low of God is the supreme degradation. This is why not trusting God becomes contempt and ultimately sin. Sin is an archery term simply meaning to miss the mark. As human beings, it is in our best interest to grant God at least two attributes if we are struggling with the others. Goodness and wisdom. Both of these are attributes of God. If God is not wise, as we navigate within this creation there will be no foundation to be sure of anything. Chaos is the only outcome. Some have said that living in this creation is hell or that nothing matters (Nihilism). We have not truly experienced hell until God's goodness has been removed. We do not know what hell is because no one on earth has experienced yet. No one finds themselves in heaven by accident, no one finds themselves in hell by accident.

For there to be wisdom, words and action must line up.

Wisdom is the most valued treasure. God is the author of that treasure. By God's grace, wisdom is still accessible. But the goodness of God we are covered.

I have this encouragement and wisdom.

John 16:32-33 Behold, an hour is coming, and has already come, for you to be scattered, each to his own home, and to leave Me alone; and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with Me. These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.”

The reason the world is in the state that it's in, is that it does what is expedient, not what is meaningful. When we see trouble come, wisdom says be patient for God has not forsaken us. Wisdom can be defined as a skill to achieve ends most perfect by means of the most perfect. Both the means and the end have to be worthy of God. God in his wisdom has the skill to achieve perfect ends by means that are perfect and worthy of God. Wisdom can see the end from the beginning. Wisdom can see everything and proper relation and in full focus. God can work these ends with flawless precision even though it might not seem like it.

This reminds me of the story of Gideon's army where God systematically reduces Gideon's army from 30,000 men to 300. God reduce the group down leaving only 1% to get the job done.

Judg. 7:2 The LORD said to Gideon, “You have too many men for me to deliver Midian into their hands. In order that Israel may not boast against me that her own strength has saved her,

Judg. 7:3 announce now to the people, ‘Anyone whotrembles with fear may turn back and leave Mount Gilead.’” So twenty-two thousand men left, while ten thousand remained.

Judg. 7:4 ¶ But the LORD said to Gideon, “There are still too many men. Take them down to the water, and I will sift them for you there. If I say, ‘This one shall go with you,’ he shall go; but if I say, ‘This one shall not go with you,’ he shall not go.”

Judg. 7:5 ¶ So Gideon took the men down to the water. There the LORD told him, “Separate those who lap the water with their tongues like a dog from those who kneel down to drink.”

Judg. 7:6 Three hundred men lapped with their hands to their mouths. All the rest got down on their knees to drink.

Judg. 7:7 ¶ The LORD said to Gideon, “With the three hundred men that lapped I will save you and give the Midianites into your hands. Let all the other men go, each to his own place.”

Judg. 7:8 So Gideon sent the rest of the Israelites to their tents but kept the three hundred, who took over the provisions and trumpets of the others. ¶ Now the camp of Midian lay below him in the valley.

The wisdom that God brought Gideon is based on the first part of being. That we would pay attention to our surroundings. This is evident that the soldiers that knelt down and put her face in the water could not pay attention to their surroundings and therefore where a liability to the overall cause. This is another archetype that God can do more with less. God does not make mistakes. Einstein said that God is not play with dice.

With God's infinite wisdom and omniscience He knew all things ahead of time. God knew the challenges we would face even today. God does not muddle through. God does not play it by ear. God is not up in heaven deciding what to do next. God is not surprised. God is all wisdom,omniscient, and good. We have to remember that God sees the end from the beginning and He never has to backup. Even when we look at the life of Christ,we never see him apologizing for saying something in error. Jesus never backtracked with his disciples. Wisdom was divinely incarnate in a voice of a man named Jesus Christ who communicated very clearly. This is not true of me. I have shared information from the pulpit that was either a typographical error,error in thought, even a belief system that wasn't thought out all the way through. In every case I've apologized. Wisdom says that in my human condition it is best to humble myself when an error has been made.

Wisdom that we see in the Bible is archetypal.

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It is high and holy as you discover it. This truth sets us free with an added bonus of the love of God. God's wisdom and truth is not subjective. It can be applied on multiple levels to anything. Because of God's infinitude, this truth has no end. There's a great war on truth in the world today through Christian movements and secular movements. We see postmodernism infiltrating both, and nihilism as a result. The postmodern belief is that all truth is subjective. This includes the Bible while nihilism says that nothing matters.

Dear people, we matter, this church matters, everything matters. Let's make our lives in this church matter. In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, let's continue to make Jesus the most famous name of all.

As a church we stand here today facing off pathologies and ideologies that were not present in the early church. A pathology is simply adopting somebody else's belief that's not your own. If we don't take time to reason through the information we too can fall into a pathology. Pathologies can and do consist of ideologies. An ideology is a partial truth without all of the information present. Both of these approaches lack God's infinite wisdom on multiple levels. It is the building blocks of cultic (controlling) belief. With every new modern Christian belief system, we realize that there is truly nothing new under the sun.

Eccl. 1:9 That which has been is that which will be, And that which has been done is that which will be done. So, there is nothing new under the sun.

What might seem new many times is an adoption of earlier heresies that are repackage to seem acceptable. We could easily say that the most honorable prayer is that to ask God for his ultimate wisdom. Solomon as a young boy faced with the task of leading the Israelite nation simply ask God for wisdom.

1Kings 3:9 “So give Thy servant an understanding heart to judge Thy people to discern between good and evil. For who is able to judge this great people of Thine?”

1Kings 3:10 ¶ And it was pleasing in the sight of the Lord that Solomon had asked this thing.

1Kings 3:11 And God said to him, “Because you have asked this thing and have not asked for yourself long life, nor have asked riches for yourself, nor have you asked for the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself discernment to understand justice,

1Kings 3:12 behold, I have done according to your words. Behold, I have given you a wise and discerning heart, so that there has been no one like you before you, nor shall one like you arise after you.

Dr. Don Richards, one of our dear elders says it best. “We go to God because he is the highest source.” There are some who say I must be right because of my fruit. Pathology and ideologies have plenty of followers. Those followers are called fruit. This is a mistake. Followers and attendance are not spiritual fruits to be examined. Let's take a look at the fruit of the spirit.

Gal. 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,

Gal. 5:23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

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Nowhere did say that large gatherings and many followers equals fruit. I am convinced that the longer Jesus tarry's, the more He's going to have to sort out when it comes to misguided Christian beliefs. God's wisdom says let your spiritual fruit of patience guide you.Patience and wisdom go hand in hand. Looking at the current affairs and critical biblical prophecies that have not come to pass yet it looks like were going to be in this for a while before Jesus returns. God, in his ultimate wisdom, can see the end from the beginning and therefore knows best in terms of now and what's to come. We must remember that God does everything with flawless precision; even when He allows chaos.

Is. 45:7 The One forming light and creating darkness,Causing well-being and creating calamity; I am the LORD who does all these.

Ultimate wisdom was a divine attribute that never cease to amaze every person Jesus came in contact with.

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Even in the temptations in the wilderness, Jesus faced off Satan with infinite wisdom packaged in brilliant authority. When Jesus shared his infinite wisdom with humanity it was always presented with love. The most enduring fruit of the Spirit. Every human being needs to come to terms with God's infinite wisdom. We know and understand that the wages of sin is death. The wage of not accepting God's wisdom is stress and uncertainty. This is a slower way to die. Every human being is a bundle of potential. God's wisdom activates potential to measurable results.

This is how God thinks. God considers the highest good, for the greatest number, for the longest time. Many people believe that the New Testament is the greatest example of God's mercy. Truth be told, there are more documented acts of Mercy in the Old Testament than there is in the New Testament. In both Testaments we see that God considers the highest good, for the greatest number, for the longest time.

Why is God so free in sharing his ultimate infinite wisdom? We can't ask this question without recognizing that there are other attributes of God that He shares with us. God shares an element of his infinitude with us. Our relationship with God as intangible beings soon to be graced glorified bodies carry an infinite attribute. God wants us to have is infinite wisdom as we journey together. The Westminster catechism says it the best with this question. What is the chief end of man? To glorify God and enjoy him forever. Everything that God does is for the highest good of the people. It is imperative that church model this position. It is unfortunate if people within the church do not choose the highest good. We need to do what is meaningful, not what is convenient. Every church should be running to the highest good of the people. Our goal as a church is that we do the highest good for the people, for the highest number of people, for the longest time. This is how God does things, we should do the same.

Since God in his infinite wisdom created all things, those things were created with utmost precision. Disobedience and rebellion to his ultimate design places the creation in a position of groaning for the return of the creator to bring chaos into order. Sin did not occupy the creation process yet chaos was spoken into order with the logos of GOD. We see creation brilliantly displayed in the literary style of mythology in the book of Genesis and reaffirmed at the beginning of the gospel of John.

John 1:1 ¶ In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

John 1:2 He was in the beginning with God.

John 1:3 All things came into being by Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.

If God is capable of such creative power to place matter in perfect order to create all things including you and I, God is perfectly able to sustain each one of us in our times of prosperity and need.

Jude 24 ¶ Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy,

Jude 25 to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.

God is willing and able.

What does it mean to admire?

: to feel respect and approval for (someone or something) : to regard with admiration

If the purpose of our existence is to be the praise of God's glory, wisdom says admiration toward God would be a great starting point.

Eph. 1:12 to the end that we who were the first to hope in Christ should be to the praise of His glory.

It is easy and quite common for Christianity in its ideology to become self-centered. What's interesting is that we can become self-centered even in the name of God. Self striving seems to be counter productive with walking in peace with God.

Rev. 5:11 And I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne and the living creatures and the elders; and the number of them was myriads of myriads, and thousands of thousands,

Rev. 5:12 saying with a loud voice, “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing.”

Rev. 5:13 And every created thing which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all things in them, I heard saying, “To Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, be blessing and honor and glory and dominion forever and ever.”

Rev. 5:14 And the four living creatures kept saying,“Amen.” And the elders fell down and worshiped.

We don't see a lot of human striving here. With a God so great our best response is to worship Him. Worship is not just our Sunday expressions. This is thinking that needs to be challenged. Thinking that God does things only one way also needs to challenged. I find it most paradoxical that God does very fine work in the dark. In Genesis, as the darkness was over the deep God spoke these words let there be light and there was light. Even in the darkness God's creative wisdom and power was working. We find that God also accomplishes much without us knowing about it. The only way to see this is in hindsight. How many details behind the scenes was God orchestrating to bring the highest good, for the most people,for the longest time.

Jesus entrance into the world did not happen with great worldly fanfare. Only those who are looking new of his arrival. The Angels announcing Jesus birth did not visit the highest of the dominance hierarchy. The Angels made an announcement to lowly shepherds in the field. Jesus was formed in the darkness of the virgins womb. All of these grand designs are acts of infinite wisdom. The logos word was hidden in Christ for 30 years. As Jesus gave up his last breath on the cross there was darkness across the land. Maybe it was God's way of saying that this sacrifice is to great to behold in light. Jesus body was wrapped repaired to be laid in the dark tomb. In the early morning hours before the sun rose they came to see the graves of Jesus and he had already risen. Some of the greatest works of God have been performed in silence and in the darkness.

What great infinite wisdom is this that is almost contrary to our contemporary understanding of God. It is an earthly pursuit and never ending endeavor to find ways to do things better. As we examine archetypes, we see that they are ancient.  Archetypes are truth that are absolute and cannot be distilled any further. Is it possible that the old way is the best way. Maybe that's the reason archetypes have sustained a test of time. Contemporary Christian circles look at the word tradition as a useless way forward in the deeper things of God. Today more than ever I challenge that thought, because I used to think that to be true. The Greek word for tradition is paradosis.

Para = alongside or handing off

Dosis = gift

Tradition literally means alongside of or handing off a gift.

The value of tradition is that it offers orientation to our position in the world as human beings. Those who have lived before us have experienced things that have been selflessly handed to the future generations. I will never look at the word tradition the same way again nor will I question the value. Tradition based on archetypes ground all who subscribe. When Jesus uses the parable describing the man who built his house on rock rather than sand, we begin to get a better picture.

Matt. 7:24 ¶ “Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine, and acts upon them, may be compared to a wise man, who built his house upon the rock.

Matt. 7:25 “And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and burst against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded upon the rock.

Matt. 7:26 “And everyone who hears these words of Mine, and does not act upon them, will be like a foolish man, who built his house upon the sand.

Matt. 7:27 “And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and burst against that house; and it fell, and great was its fall.”

Matt. 7:28 ¶ The result was that when Jesus had finished these words, the multitudes were amazed at His teaching;

What's interesting is that Jesus is simply telling a story. Is Jesus describing an actual occurrence? Not necessarily. Jesus is sharing a story of archetypal truth. This truth has been distilled down to its basic parts. We don't need to know how the structure was created, what materials were used, how long it took. We just need to know what was the structure built upon. That tells us all we need to know and how the story ends. Build a structure on bedrock and it will last through the changes of nature and culture. Build a structure on sand with no absolutes and we will collapse from within or by pressures from the outside or both. God's infinite wisdom and archetypes are bedrock to build upon.

Many times God's ultimate infinite wisdom is hidden in silence or darkness.

Prov. 25:2 ¶ It is the glory of God to conceal a matter, But the glory of kings is to search out a matter.

Each person on this planet has a choice to make. To employ the ultimate wisdom of God or to do their own thing.

There is a postmodernism example in the New Testament in regards to the Old Testament when talking about the days of Noah.

Matt. 24:37 “For the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah.

Matt. 24:38 “For as in those days which were before the flood they were eating and drinking, they were marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark,

Matt. 24:39 and they did not understand until the flood came and took them all away; so shall the coming of the Son of Man be.

We see another example in the book of Isaiah.

Is. 53:6 All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way; But the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all To fall on Him.

We have to realize that human beings are fully capable of not following God's design, not listening to God's wisdom, and not caring about anyone else, ignoring archetypes and tradition that are helpful and orient us in the confused world. These things can even happen in the name of God. We see this example to the history of humanity in multiple religions including Christianity.

Is there price to pay for God's ultimate wisdom. There might be yet the price not following God's ultimate wisdom will lead to chaos and no peace. Many times God's wisdom only knocks once. When we don't subscribe to his wisdom we can pay for a lifetime.

We need a shepherd. We need a Savior. We need ultimate infinite wisdom. This is the difference between authentic spirit filled lives going to an authentic spirit filled church and people fooling themselves manufacturing spiritual experiences through excitement. The Bible says that every knee will bow and every tongue is that Jesus Christ is Lord, we will be taking a knee to the infinite wisdom of God.

Rom. 8:28 And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.

The brilliance of God is that in his archetypal wisdom, truth that has been set as bedrock from the beginning of time, it will lead us to new horizons, to places of the unknown. Only God could do such miraculous design. It might include fire, it might include the desert, it might include letting go, it might include saying goodbye, yet we will rise from the ashes as new creations of the most high God.

There is great temptation and every human being to run their own lives. There is a balance between taking responsibility for our actions and administrating God completely out of our experiences. Nietzsche simply said that God is dead. He goes on to say, and you have killed him and there is not enough water in the ocean to wash away the blood. Removing God as a central belief system and foundation of a human life brings great challenges. If God is removed, the void that creates will be filled with something else. Nietzsche was one of the greatest critics of the Christian religion because he saw pathology and ideology that would one day, in the future, remove God completely from the belief system.

40 years later after Nietzsche made this quote that rang out across the world that God is dead,exactly what he said would happened did happen in Russia, China, and Germany where millions of people collectively were killed with the removal and replacement of the one true God. It's easy to commit mass genocide if you don't think there's a God watching.

Today we deal with false Christ's which is another removal of God.

Matt. 24:24 “For false Christs and false prophets will arise and will show great signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible,even the elect.

2Cor. 11:13 For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ.

This is all evidence of trying to run our own lives without God and without His ultimate, infinite wisdom. I can remember a time back in the early 90's when I took a missionary trip to Austria and Germany. We were leaving from Los Angeles international Airport. About two hours into the flight begin to experience extreme turbulence. There was enough turbulence to upset a large portion of the passengers on the plan. There comes a point in your life when you have to trust that someone might have more wisdom, knowledge, experience in a circumstance than any of us. Within the chaotic moments of flight, I could have gotten up and ran to the cockpit, when it was still possible, and insist on flying the plan myself. If I did that, I wouldn't be here today due to the fact that jet airline would've been another statistic of airline disasters. The captain of the aircraft, as well as the flight crew, encouraged us that this was not uncommon over the mountain range we were traveling over.

In other words, as uncomfortable as the experience was, it was still common.

1Cor. 10:13 No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, that you may be able to endure it.

When we consider temptation, I am sure our thoughts can go many places. Have we considered that maybe we are tempted not to trust the infinite wisdom of God? I had to trust the pilot and the flight crew. This was no time during chaotic portions of this trans Atlantic flight to take matters in my own hands. Are we behaving this way with God?

We like our church a certain way, we like our lives a certain way, yet what happens when the turbulence comes? God's infinite wisdom can run our church. God's infinite wisdom can run each one of our lives. God's instant wisdom can run our families. God's infinite wisdom can run our businesses. God will choose vessels for His wisdom. This wise God considers the highest good, for the most people,for the longest time.

God does all things with flawless precision. Even if it doesn't look like it. Even if it doesn't feel like it. God knows our struggles. He knows our flesh. He knows that we are like the flower of the field. His omnipotent power is the power that fuels us. We need to realize that this infinite God, with infinite wisdom, also has infinite love.

As humans we are bankrupt.God is the new owner insists that the previous owner who ran us into the ground be let go so that we can thrive again. There are three types of people. The unblessed, the uncommitted, and the committed. The unblessed person is one who has not surrendered to God

at all. The uncommitted person is one who has given their life to God yet has not gone any further. We might use the term Jesus as Savior yet not Jesus as Lord. There have been many great debates about these types of people.

One thing we need to know and understand is that God ultimately is the one who can confirm and/or judge any person salvation. The committed individual understands and lives their life with GOD. Committed individuals are willing to act upon the ultimate wisdom of God. They act and position themselves in this way.

Prov. 9:10 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.

The fruit of no commitment is being miserable. We know and understand the four C's is a perpetuating motion forward and upward. Commitment, courage, capabilities, confidence. This is archetypal truth that works no matter who you are, or where you're from. Unfortunately people don't commit because they feel they don't have the capabilities. This is a simple fear response. It's impossible to gain capabilities without commitment and courage to something new. Where we are right now in our lives is based upon what we know right now. To move forward we need to learn something new. Committed people shine. Committed people grow. Committed people are resourceful.Committed people are not tossed by every wind of doctrine. Committed people are the apple of God's eye. Committed people understand the wages paid for doubt.

Prov. 3:5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And do not lean on your own understanding.

A.W. Toser says it clearly that we need to consider our ways. Are we trusting God or are we trusting a man made pathology or ideology in any part of our life.

John 8:32 and you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”

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