Divine Philosophy

“Christ.. the wisdom of God,” — 1 Cor. i. 24.

But why did He not become man till after man had

sinned, and human nature had become vile and

mortal? Why did He not unite himself with the

unfallen Adam, and with an unfallen creation,

thereby upholding our nature, and preventing that

fall which has been so terrible, so disastrous? For

many reasons; too many to be here enumerated.

But this at least we may say, that it was needful

that the creature should be abased, emptied, laid

prostrate, ere it could be lifted up to a height so

glorious as that of union with Godhead. It must

be shewn that this was no natural process, no law

of the creature’s own being, whereby, after a certain

time, it could rise from the human to the divine.

It must be shewn that it was from no desert of the

creature, no necessity of being or of righteousness,

no claim which the finite can have on the infinite.

Every possibility of boasting or pride must be cut

off; hence sin, death, corruption, must be allowed

to enter it ere it can be safe for itself, or honourable

for God so to uplift and glorify it. Till it has

been brought to its lowest depths; till it is seen to be the most abject, degraded, undeserving of beings; till the curse of God, pronounced over it, has declared it totally unworthy of anything but consuming wrath; till this has been accomplished, it could not be trusted with such an elevation, such a glory. Till it had sunk down to the lowest, it was not fit to be raised to the highest; till it had reduced itself to a condition rendering it only fit to be swept out of God’s presence for ever, it was not in a condition to receive the destined honour; till it hung over hell, ready to drop into the devouring fire, it could not be trusted with personal affinity to Godhead, with the crown of heaven, or with the throne of the universe.

Nay, it was not in a condition fully to set forth the wisdom of God, till it had become sinful. As man’s wisdom is not fully seen in prosperous, peaceful days, nor has opportunity to develop itself till evervthino; is disordered, complicated, broken,

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and its resources are taxed to the verv uttermost,

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so was it respecting the wisdom of God. There was needed a condition of creaturehood disturbed, accursed, ruined; a condition which, by its entanglements, its conflicting demands, its desperate wreck of law, and righteousness, and goodness, should tax wisdom’s resources to their utmost. Till such had become the condition of the creature, there was comparatively little scope for the development of wisdom. Just as the fall was needed to let loose the boundless fountains of hidden love in God, so was it needed to disclose the treasures of his infinite wisdom. Just as this free-love of God could not rightly sing its song, in all the rich breadth of its harmony, over unfallen man, but needed that fall in order to get down to the lowest notes of the wondrous music, which are the deepest, the fullest, and the sweetest; so the wisdom of God could not half unfold itself, nor shew its breadth and length, its height and depth, over an unfallen race.

Thus, then, we see in Christ the God-man, the Wisdom of God. In the constitution of his person; in the incarnation itself; in the time and circumstances of the incarnation; in the purposes for which that incarnation was devised; in the way in which it has carried out these purposes; — in all these we see “Christ, the Wisdom of God;” Christ the great embodiment of divine wisdom; Christ not only the possessor of this wisdom, but the revealer, the exhibitor, the teacher of its mysteries.

What, then, must be the guilt of undervaluing this incarnation of wisdom! What the evil of errors as to the person of the Christ! This is the object which God so specially holds up to view, claiming for it our admiration, our reverence, our love. Above all objects of nature upon earth, in which science has discovered such wonders of wisdom, God has set his Son as the centre and summation of all wisdom. Woe be to the man who slights this, who prefers other objects to this, who finds other centres than this.

Here lies one of the crown in 2; sins of Rome. She has degraded the Son of God, and has done what she could to nullify the great objects of incarnation, as well as the great end of blood-shedding, She has exalted the human above the divine; she has seated a woman upon the throne of God; she has made the glory of the incarnation to centre in Mary, not in Mary’s son; she has made, not Christ, but Mary, the wisdom of God; not Christ, but Mary, the power of God; not Christ, but Mary, the link between the earthly and the heavenly; not Christ, but Mary, the point of union between the human and the divine!

But the question which, from all this, is most closely brought home to us is, “What think ye of Christ?” Is he to you wisdom? Is he to you the wisdom of God? In him centres all that God counts excellent, and true, and perfect, and glorious, and wise. Does all that you esteem excellent, and true, and perfect, and glorious, and wise, centre also in him? He is the object of divine admiration; is he also the object of yours? He is the beloved of the Father, in whom He is well pleased; is he also your beloved, in whom you are well pleased? Do you see in him wisdom? Not merely salvation, forgiveness, life, but wisdom, — wisdom the highest, truest, noblest, ever tasted by man?

Or have you some other Christ, some object whom you admire more than him, in which you see more truth, more wisdom, more beauty, more attractiveness, than in him? Is pleasure your Christ? But will pleasure make you wise unto salvation? Will pleasure bring you into the everlasting kingdom? Is gold your Christ? But will gold make you wise, or be an introduction into the presence of God? Is the world your Christ? But will the world make you wise, or deliver you from the eternal darkness? Is sin your Christ? But will sin make you wise? Will sin save and bless you? Is literature your Christ? But will all earth’s widest range of literature make you truly wise, or fill the void of your heart, or gladden you with abiding joy? Is science your Christ? But will science make you wise, — wise for eternity? Are poetry and romance your Christ? Will they heal your spirit’s wounds? Will they minister to a mind diseased? Will they pluck from your memory the rooted sorrow? Will they raze out the written troubles of the brain? Will they fill you with the “joy unspeakable and full of glory?”

Christ is the wisdom of God; and in the knowledge of this Christ there is wisdom for you; nor wisdom only, but life, forgiveness, peace, glory, and an endless kingdom! Study him! Acquaint thyself with him! Whatever you are ignorant of, be not ignorant of him: whatever you overlook, overlook not him: whatever y011 lose, lose not him. To gain him is to gain eternal life, to gain a kingdom, to gain everlasting blessedness. To lose him is to lose your soul, to lose God, to lose God’s favour, to lose God’s heaven, to lose the eternal crown! 0 my friend and fellow- man, I charge thee, and again I charge thee, whatsoever thou losest, lose not him. Thou canst not afford such a loss; such an infinite, eternal loss; a loss for which there can be no compensation, here or hereafter. Other losses may be heavy, but they are light compared with this; only the loss of a grain of sand when compared with a mine of gold. Other losses may be protracted for years, but this is for ever. Other losses may make thee poor for this life, but this impoverishes thee to all eternity. And it is the loss, too, of that very thing which thousands in our day are seeking, each in his own way, — the loss of wisdom! It is not merely the loss of righteousness, the loss of pardon, the loss of gladness, the loss of heaven; but it is the loss of wisdom; that which God calls wisdom; that which would make thy soul wise for ever and for ever! Kemember that “the wise shall inherit glory;” that “they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament.”

Young man, wouldst thou not be wise? Even though thou couldst save thy soul and gain heaven without it, would it not be better to have this wisdom, than to live and die without it? That cannot be of mean importance respecting which God has uttered this longing, this compassionate yearning, “0 that they were wise!”

And where shall wisdom be found, and where is the place of understanding? The depth saith, It is not in me; and the sea saith, It is not in me; and the river saith, It is not in me; and the cloud saith, It is not in me; and the flower saith, It is not in me; and the star saith, It is not in me; and the light saith, It is not in me; and the darkness saith, It is not in me. It is only in Him in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. He is the Wisdom of God.

And what price shall we pay for it? “It cannot be gotten for gold, neither shall silver be weighed for the price thereof. It cannot be valued with the gold of Ophir, with the precious onyx or the sapphire; the gold and the crystal cannot equal it, and the exchange of it shall not be for jewels of fine gold.” But, just because it is beyond price, it is without price; and that which is most precious is to be gotten at least cost; nay, it is altogether free!

And how shall it be had? “If any man lack wisdom, let him ask of God, who giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not, and it shall be given him.” Take him who is wisdom, and thou hast it all. “He that hath the Son hath life;” so he that hath the Son hath wisdom. The good tidings concerning this wisdom are the same good tidings that are made known respecting the Son of God. The Father’s testimony to his Christ is his testimony to the wisdom. He who receives that testimony receives the Christ; and he who receives the Christ, receives the wisdom; and, in that wisdom, everlasting life and an inheritance of glory.