10) Wisdom in eternity

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We might imagine that wisdom is only required for life in this present world. We could think that because God’s dwelling-place is pure and perfect; surely wisdom is redundant there? But wisdom is eternal. Here is Proverbs again:

The Lord possessed me at the beginning of his work, the first of his acts of old.
(Proverbs 8:22 ESV)

Everything that was made was the outcome of wisdom. Wisdom is part of God’s divine character and so has an eternal dimension. These praises in Revelation tell us the same:

They sang, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honour and power and strength belong to our God forever and ever! Amen.” (Revelation 7:12 NLT)

God’s wisdom is forever!

reward

The same is true of the character of Jesus, He too is wisdom with an eternal dimension. We read:

but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. (1 Corinthians 1:24)

Jesus Christ is the wisdom of God. As wisdom is eternal it also means that His teachings are eternal. Remember that Jesus said this about Himself:

Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away. (Matthew 24:35)

Although we could think that His words only applied to life on earth now, they will still be true into the eternal future of the new world. Again, Jesus said:

‘Truly I tell you,’ Jesus replied, ‘no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age: homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields – along with persecutions – and in the age to come eternal life. (Mark 10:29-30)

Jesus promises a present reward and a future reward. The present reward comes with persecutions since we follow Him in the way of rejection and the cross. The future reward is unclear as to exactly what this will be. However, this particular promise of Jesus does show that the reward is not just a personal one. We are promised the blessings of relationships here which will continue to be shared in the new age to come.

The age to come is a mystery to us. It involves dimensions we cannot now understand. We have to rely on parables, visions and prophecies in the bible to convey some meaning. We do know that the age to come will involve God’s dwelling-place being with redeemed humanity. If you like, it will be the restoration of the Garden of Eden in which there was to be no sin or death; in which life was maintained by eating of the Tree of Life; and where the Lord God walked with humans in unbroken relationship. It is the restoration of God’s plan which He conceived in wisdom. This is how Revelation relates it:

And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Look! God’s dwelling-place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. “He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death” or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.’ (Revelation 21:3-4)

Furthermore, this is how Revelation shows the future important role for the Tree of Life:

On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. (Revelation 22:2)

Remember this is a vision in allegorical form: we do not know exactly what this means. However, the connection with Eden is clear as well as its eternal significance – the tree never stops bearing the fruit of life!

heart

But the blessings related here only follow the final Judgment. The final Judgment is one matter on which the bible is very clear. Wisdom will decide those who will pass the Judgment and those who will fail. Jesus was very clear about this, teaching:

‘When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left … ‘Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.’ (Matthew 25:31-46)

Jesus uses a farming metaphor to explain that when we all stand before His glorious throne of judgment, there will be a clear division made. Revelation also shows that the Judgment divides using a different metaphor:

Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. The earth and the heavens fled from his presence, and there was no place for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what they had done. (Revelation 20:11-13)

Wisdom will decide whether or not the deeds recorded demonstrate that each person is really part of the ‘sheep’, that is, the genuine redeemed children of God. And wisdom will allocate each person to the eternal consequences of what they have done.

However, it’s important to recognise that this vision of the books being opened is a metaphor to help our understanding. God’s throne and dwelling-place is in a spiritual realm with no physical matter such as books. So, there may be no physical books, but records are kept of a spiritual nature. The decisions which are made through wisdom reflect the inward nature of each person’s heart; and the deeds done are a reflection of the heart. Jesus clearly taught that judgment is in matters of the heart. He said:

But I tell you that everyone will have to give account on the day of judgment for every empty word they have spoken. For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned. (Matthew 12:36-37)

Words are not deeds but do reflect the true nature of the heart. This point was emphasised in another saying of Jesus:

But the things that come out of a person’s mouth come from the heart, and these defile them. For out of the heart come evil thoughts – murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. These are what defile a person (Matthew 15:18-20)

Words reveal the sin of the human heart. It is this which wisdom will bring to the light in the final Judgment.

hatred

Perhaps the clearest revelation that wisdom will make when everyone who ever lived is confronted with the Judgment is their real attitude to God. Paul wrote this:

This will take place on the day when God judges people’s secrets through Jesus Christ, as my gospel declares. (Romans 2:16)

Deeds are not normally secret but can be seen by others. Words are often overheard by others. But the crucial attitude of the heart which can be kept hidden is this one about which Paul also writes:

They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful (Romans 1:29-30)

That is, the heart that hates God. Few people will own up to actually hating God. I have heard some atheists claim that they do; but religious people would never admit to this. But it is an essential motivation of the heart: if we love God we shall speak and do good; if we hate God we shall speak and do evil, even if that hatred is by disguised in our words and actions. Jesus was frank with His disciples that hatred is a root motivation in the human heart. He said:

If I had not done among them the works no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin. As it is, they have seen, and yet they have hated both me and my Father. But this is to fulfil what is written in their Law: “They hated me without reason. (John 15:24-25)

Wisdom discerns hatred; and hatred will be the final arbiter at the Judgment.

conclusion

This series has explored the scriptures to understand how vital wisdom is in our understanding of the Christian life. May the Lord bless your meditations on wisdom and may we all surrender to Him from whom all wisdom and blessings flow.