October 24, 2023
Carefully follow them (God’s statutes and ordinances) for this will show your wisdom and understanding in the eyes of the peoples. Deut. 4:6
The proper perspective of the believer concerning the relationship with God is about obeying the laws and ordinances of God. Why? Because out of them flows all wisdom and understanding for life. Proverbs 9:10 says, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of all wisdom and the knowledge of the Holy One is the beginning of understanding.” Through wisdom, God allows you to know what he knows, to the extent that knowledge and understanding comes to us through our relationship in Christ, since scripture also tells us that “…Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God… (1 Cor 1:24).
You ought to see two truths in view here.
Firstly, is that salvation through Christ comes to you out of God’s desire for you to know him – to know his wisdom. Wrapped up in the promises God makes to those whom he chooses is the opportunity to know his wisdom. So important is this to him that as you receive Christ as Savior and deepen your relationship with him, you know more and more of God’s wisdom.
Since Christ is the wisdom of God, as you immerse your life in his, wisdom is surer to be yours. This truth makes you and other faithful followers of Jesus spiritually unique to all other people. Just as God, in days of old, intended his people – by his wisdom and power – to be “peculiar” and set apart from other peoples, so he expects you to be peculiar and unique from other people by living by his wisdom. Believers are to be known in the world, not by wealth, status, or power, but by the skill which you use in following and living the wisdom of God as an inseparable reality of your salvation.
Secondly, by “showing” or “living” God’s wisdom, you should have an impact on the unbelieving world. Since Christ is the wisdom and power of God, living as the image of Christ conveys the wisdom of God to the unbelieving world. If the wisdom of God is to bring you to salvation in Christ Jesus, is this not the same wisdom he wishes all men and women to know? Your life is a declaration of the fullness of life that God’s wisdom is bringing you each day. When the unbelieving world observes what life under the wisdom of God is for you, they may say, this great believer is indeed a wise and understanding person who has discovered the true meaning of life. And they may come to salvation in Christ Jesus, the source of your wisdom and strength.
What a great God we have. His wisdom and power is salvation in Christ Jesus and is our life and is our witness to the unbelieving world. Do you see now why the law – God’s wisdom – is more than just a lot of do’s and don’ts?
