Thanksgiving for Wisdom

In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace; Wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence; Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself: That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him. (Ephesians 1:7-10)

          “Nasty, brutish and short” – that is how the philosopher Thomas Hobbes described human existence in his great work Leviathan.

          You might not use that same, terse, gripping phrase, but it’s possible that you – or those around you – think the same way about human life. Forgiveness? Not possible. Hope? No such thing. Life is about grabbing all the gusto you can before you die -- which means life is awfully bleak.

          That’s how many folks in our world conceive of human existence. Certainly, from an earthly perspective, life does seem filled with pain, hurt, bitterness and emptiness.

          But you and I, as followers of Jesus, know better. God the Father has made us wise to who His Son is as our Redeemer, and to His ultimate plan for this universe and for His church.

          We praise God the Father this morning, because amid a gloomy world trapped in its own spiritual darkness, He has made us wise to the hope we have in Christ our Savior.

          As you and I have been studying Ephesians 1:3-14, we already have noted that these verses comprise one long sentence in Greek: a sentence that actually is a call to praise God the Father for the blessings He pours on us in Jesus. Today, as we examine verses 7-10, we’ll see that one of those blessings of His grace is the wisdom He gives us to see who Jesus is as Savior, and what His plan is for us, eternally, in Jesus. Verse 8, which describes the wisdom and insight the Father has given us, is the pivotal verse in this section because it looks backward to our redemption (7) and forward to our hope (10-11).

You and I are to praise the Father for the wisdom He has given us, first, to embrace Christ as our Redeemer.

          In verses 7b and 8, St. Paul writes of the “riches” of God’s grace that He has caused to abound to us. These are effusive, extravagant words that characterize God’s grace (His undeserved goodness to us in Christ, when you and I truthfully merited His punishment for our sin). One aspect of God’s grace to you and me is His making us wise unto salvation in Jesus Christ, which is the focus of verse 7.

          “Wisdom and insight” in verse 8b are hardly distinguishable terms; they really emphasize the same thing. But what is this “wisdom” of which the apostle writes?

          Wisdom, in the biblical sense, means knowing the facts about who you are as God’s creature and as a sinner, and about who Jesus is as your only Savior. If you do not know and trust with your heart in these truths, then by God’s standard you are unwise – regardless of your age, learning or status in life. And such were all of us until the Father, in His grace, lavished His wisdom on us to point us to our need for Christ.

          St. Paul says you and I who believe in Jesus as our Savior already enjoy redemption through the blood of Christ. “Redemption” – one of those Bible words you and I use frequently but rarely stop to define – is being set free from slavery by the payment of a ransom. Redemption is a meaningless term to you unless you have been made wise by God to understand that you, naturally, are a slave: to sin, to fear, to death. Jesus told the Pharisees that whoever commits sin is a slave to sin, under its total domination. And if you are a slave to sin, you are a slave to its consequence: death. You might think you’re free, but in fact your autonomy is fictitious. You do whatever the flesh desires, and the fruit of such a practice is spiritual and physical death. It is only as Jesus gave his life-blood for you, dying to the sway of sin and death in your behalf, that you are set free from the punishment you deserve and from slavery to a cruel master.

          Paul in verse 7 equates redemption from slavery to sin with the forgiveness of sins, which you and I already enjoy because Jesus shed his blood and went to Hell on the Cross for us. But just as redemption is a meaningless term until you are enlightened to see your slavery to sin, forgiveness is a meaningless term until our holy God makes you wise to understand your guilt before Him. This is the heart of the Gospel, the “Good News,” but you will never appropriate the Good News until the Father first makes you wise to appropriate the bad news about your sin and God’s impending judgment of you.

          If you truly see Jesus as the One setting you free from sin, from guilt and from slavery by the price of his blood, are you thankful to God for His gift of wisdom? The human mind cannot get past sin and bitterness. Mere men and women, apart from God’s grace in Christ, have no reason to forgive – or even to contemplate the idea of forgiveness. But you, Christian, know what it means to be set free. Does this knowledge encourage you?

          If you see that Jesus has set you free from slavery to old, God-dishonoring patterns of thinking and living, and from the abject fear of Freeman Funeral Home, does this knowledge empower you to live boldly for the Lord? It takes courage to forgive others, and to break old, evil habits, and to follow where Christ leads. But if you are Christ’s, then you are free – and empowered to really live life.

          This is wisdom that none but God’s children possess.

          You and I must praise our Father, secondly, because His grace makes us wise to His eternal plan for us in Christ.

          The apostle says in verse 9 that the Father has made known to us the mystery of His will, which he planned in Himself out of His own good pleasure. It’s vital you understand that “mystery,” in Scripture, means “that which once was hidden from man’s eyes but now has been made clear by the Lord.” A mystery isn’t something you and I need to solve; it’s something God has made plain to us in the course of redemptive history. This mystery – which God planned in Himself of His own sovereign delight, and not because He was compelled to – is something humans never could devise.

          And what, exactly, is this mystery? It is (as we see in verse 10) that God, in His eternal plan, at the fullness of time (when Christ returns to judge the living and the dead), will unite His church and the heavens and the earth in the harmony that He always intended for us to enjoy. This unity, which seems so distant now because of our sin and the curse, will come about through, in and for Jesus Christ. This message, this hope, is the same promise God makes to us in Revelation 21 and 22: one day, all believers will dwell with the triune God perfectly and forever, and we will do His will perfectly and forever.

          Those around you who do not believe the Gospel don’t think there is a unifying principle to this universe. They see no point to life: it’s nasty, brutish and short, and you do anything to survive and “win.” Work has nothing to do with one’s gifts and calling; calling is, in reality, a meaningless word for them. They see no connection between art, beauty, meaning and worship. Everything in life is totally disjointed for them as they struggle from 8 to 5 and Monday to Friday and birth to death.

          But you and I, whom God has made wise and to whom He has revealed the mystery of the universe, know that Christ is at the center of all things. He is the Agent of creation; he is the Goal of creation. We may speak of the “UNIverse,” because Jesus unites all things in himself. Everything exists by, and for, the Lord Christ. This means you aren’t truly living until you bring all of your life – thought, word and deed – under his Lordship.

          For example, plenty of folks in our world think marriage is great, but it is nothing more than a legal arrangement between man and woman. At best, they see marriage as an expression of love and of commitment – but no more. Yet you and I know that God instituted marriage for our relief, for the birth of humans (from which number He would draw His elect) and primarily as a witness to the love that Jesus has for his church (which we’ll see in Ephesians 5). Why do so many marriages fail? In part, because sinful, foolish pagans fail to connect the creation (here, marriage) with its Creator (Christ).

          There is coming a Day when Jesus will return and unite all believers together perfectly, and we will dwell with him in the New Heavens and New Earth, where we won’t doubt the sacredness of our work or encounter thorns and thistles in our vocations. This means life isn’t “nasty, brutish and short” with no end goal in sight.

          For Christians, this life is brimming with purpose: it is preparation for the glorious life to come!

          “Thanks for the advice.” I enjoy saying those words, because in this life I need all the helpful counsel I can muster. How many times have I been spared from a wrong turn or a poor choice, whether applying to college or fixing the faucet, by a wise person’s counsel!

          The greatest counsel of all? It is to see your bondage to sin – and then to embrace your Redeemer, Jesus. It is to see this world as belonging to Christ and, one day, to be freed of the curse in order to serve him perfectly.

          This is freedom. This is hope. This is wisdom from the triune God. Let us thank and praise Him for it.