The Messenger 6
Introduction
In Psalm 119:105 the psalmist writes these words: “Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.” Take a moment to think about the implication of that for your life.
God wants to give you wisdom and insight that will be as a light to you for the way ahead. He does not want you to have to stumble through life relying on nothing more than your own wisdom and insight. He does not want you to be unsure of His real purpose for you nor uncertain how to accomplish that purpose. Your heavenly Father wants to bless you with His wisdom so you will make the right decisions at the right time and in the right way. As you mediate on His word His insights and wisdom become as a lamp for your feet and a light on your path.
“When we think about someone being wise, we usually think of a person who has given us a perspective we haven’t ever considered before. That person’s perspective hits particularly close to home for us if it includes a personal interest in our own situation. Godly wisdom brings us a biblical perspective about issues we’re facing or deciding in our own lives” (Dennis Burke).
The Messenger is an encouragement to you to spend time in God’s Word studying it and meditating on it. As you do you will discover that God has a personal interest in your situation. He wants to give you, whoever you are, an insight into His perspective. He wants you to be wise with His wisdom in the direction you take for your life and in the timing of your decisions.
The manifold wisdom of God
As we continue examining each section of that fascinating passage in Ephesians 3:10, I trust that you will discover “a lamp for your feet and light on your path.” In this reflection we are going to turn our attention to that interesting phrase “the manifold wisdom of God.”
The word “manifold” simply means “abounding in variety, diverse, multi-coloured.” God’s wisdom is just that – it is abounding in variety, it is diverse and multi-coloured. Please take special note of two important things about wisdom in the Bible:
Firstly, both in the Old Testament and in the New, wisdom is immensely practical. It is never simply theoretical. “Wisdom” writes Dr DA Hubbard “is the art of being successful, of forming the correct plan to gain the desired results.” And, secondly, as Hubbard points out, in its fullest sense it belongs to God alone. It is expressed through His perfect knowledge that embraces every realm and aspect of life. In His wisdom God not only knows the end from the beginning but possesses the ability to bring to completion all that He has purposed. He is never caught off-guard by the unexpected, never defeated by the seemingly impossible, never confused by a multitude of conflicting choices. And if the many fulfilled prophecies in the Bible are anything to go by, the ability of God in His infinite wisdom to form the correct plan to get the desired results is more than amply demonstrated.
We see God’s wisdom so wonderfully demonstrated in creation, don’t we? Writes the psalmist: “The heavens declare the glory of God…” (Psalm 19:1). From the smallness of an atom to the vastness of a galaxy we see an order that defies human imagination. And for those who care to examine these things we can’t help but be amazed at the finely-tuned inter-connectedness between our small world and the vast universe with its trillions of stars and billions of galaxies. Our world is as it is because the universe is as it is. And if that universe wasn’t as it is you and I wouldn’t be around. This is the wisdom of God.
But the greatest display of God’s wisdom is demonstrated for us in the cross of Jesus. What wisdom is demonstrated in God’s plan for our salvation – a plan conceived before time had even begun and brought to its completion at the right moment in history. Who but God would have thought of a plan that was able to hold in perfect tension justice and wrath against sin on the one hand and love and mercy on the other?
It may be difficult for some to imagine how something as crude and inhuman as a cross could ultimately become the greatest expression of God’s love and wisdom. But the message of the cross stands as a powerful reminder that the foolishness of God is wiser than the wisdom of man. Its message is a constant reminder that the grace of God is never cheap. What injustice we do to the Gospel, then, when we try to remove the uncomfortable bits in order to popularize its message. How ably Ravi Zacharias, the Indian born Christian apologist now living in Canada, brings that home for us:
God’s answer was a stumbling block then, and it is a stumbling block now. But only if it is properly and seriously understood can its beauty be seen amidst obvious pain and hatred. I refer to the cross of Christ. The cross stands as a mystery because it is foreign to everything we exalt – self over principle, power over meekness, the quick-fix over the long haul, cover-up over confession, escapism over confrontation, comfort over sacrifice, feeling over commitment, legality over injustice, the body over the spirit, anger over forgiveness, man over God. We want writes Niebuhr in The Kingdom of God in America, God without wrath who took man without sin into a kingdom without justice through the ministrations of Christ without a cross.
What a judgement on the human race for our even imagining that we could be wiser than God. For all the resistance today to the preaching of the cross it remains the only effective analysis of precisely what the issues are and where our human problems really lie. All attempts to find and apply human solutions to the problems of society may produce an appearance of success, even a measure of success, in addressing the symptoms and needs of our sick society. But it is only the message of the cross, foolishness to some but to us the power and wisdom of God (1 Cor. 1:23-24), that is able to provide a solution to what is at the root of our problems. And it is this message, this wisdom, this power that God has entrusted to the Church.
“His intent was that now, through the Church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known……..” (Eph.3:10).
If you have a question or a comment about this series please feel free to write to me, Brian, at
Click on next page to continue