O Come, O Wisdom

There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse,
and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.
And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him,
the Spirit of wisdom and understanding,
the Spirit of counsel and might,
the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.

Isaiah 11:1-2

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

John 1:1

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

John 1:14

Isaiah 11:1-2; John 1:1, 14

When Jesus comes, He brings the wisdom of God. The prophet Isaiah told us 700 years before Christ came that the Messiah would have the spirit of wisdom. The Apostle John says the Messiah is the Word, and the Word became flesh. The Word means truth that can be understood in human terms, and the spirit of wisdom is how it is communicated.

J.I. Packer in “Knowing God” says Scripture reveals that:

"Wisdom is the power to see and the inclination to choose the best and highest goal, together with the surest mean of attaining it. Wisdom is, in fact, the practical side of moral goodness."

In the Greek world of John’s day, wisdom was understood as the way the universe was governed by its structure and process. The Hebrew writers saw wisdom as divine (see Proverbs 8:11-31). Paul put these two thoughts together and wrote “to both the Jews and Greeks, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God” (1 Corinthians 1:24).

The wisdom we see in Christ, how He lived among us in the flesh, enables us to enjoy and live in His grace and truth. This wisdom keeps us in harmony with the purposes and plans of God.

Because Christ has come, we too can choose the best and highest goal to give God glory. Christ’s power and wisdom has been made available as glorious gifts (James 1:5, 17).