Ancient Wisdom

This morning we are finishing Proverbs 8 looking at Lady Wisdom’s call for us to listen to her and embrace her. In order to do this wisdom will cry out, describing and extolling her virtues, and we will see this in the text from two perspectives. First is wisdom and creation. These verses show the relationship between God and wisdom and how the reality of wisdom goes all the way back to creation. This passage teaches us God’s love for His world and His wholehearted commitment to His world. The second point is wisdom and redemption. In vv.32-36 wisdom calls out for us to listen to her and respond. Verse 35 says, “For whoever finds me finds life and obtains favor from the Lord.” This reminds us of what John says in his first letter, “Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life (1 John 5:12). The narrative of Proverbs is moving towards its crescendo of calling us to commitment. Will we embrace wisdom? Will we seek and follow hard after wisdom?

From our perspective we embrace and follow wisdom by embracing and following Christ. For Christ is the incarnation and embodiment of wisdom. When Proverbs says that wisdom is crying out and calling, it is Jesus Christ who is offering Himself to us. We read in Colossians 1:19-20, “For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of the cross.”