No, we declare God’s wisdom, a mystery that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began. (1 Cor. 2:7)
Socrates famously said the source of his wisdom was this: “What I do not know I do not think I know either.” In other words, he understood the limits of his knowledge. I’ve seen this same characteristic with many of the most knowledgeable and mature people in my life: pastors who distinguish between the Word of God and their own interpretations or professors who teach their field of knowledge without presuming to have authority on every topic for their listening students.
These men and women are less willing to speak in broad strokes, more willing to admit the holes in their own understanding—and it gives their words more weight. They treat the truth with care.
All through the Bible, we read about the mystery of God—some elements hidden from biblical characters and others revealed to and in believers. In Colossians, Paul writes that “the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages . . . is Christ in you, the hope of glory.” Yet here, God’s wisdom is also mysterious—not fully knowable to us, or knowable at all without the work of the Holy Spirit.
God’s redemptive plan is both already accomplished through Christ’s sacrifice and the formation of the church, and also yet to be fully realized. Similarly, God’s wisdom is revealed to us, but not all dimensions of it.
Write down three aspects of God you don’t understand.
Lindsey Priest is an Indiana Wesleyan University graduate who lives in Arkansas. She likes to read to her kids, play video games with her husband, and refurbish furniture.
© 2022 Wesleyan Publishing House. Reprinted from Light from the Word. Used by permission. Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®.
