How to Tap Into God's Secret Wisdom
Perhaps you consider yourself to be a wise person, and maybe your family and friends would agree with your assessment. But are you wise in the things of God? That is to say, have you tapped into God's "secret wisdom"?
You see, the "wisdom of the world" (1 Cor. 1:20) operates on a different trajectory than the secret wisdom of God. The apostle Paul spoke of this heavenly wisdom when he wrote: "We speak a message of wisdom among the mature, but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. No, we speak of God's secret wisdom, a wisdom that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began." (1 Cor. 2:6,7)
God's secret wisdom is given to those who are humble in heart, and willing to admit they need the Lord's grace and guidance. God's secret wisdom is not given to the proud. "God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things - and the things that are not - to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before Him." (1 Cor. 1:27-29)
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So are you a boastful person? Do you tend to seek glory for yourself, or is your life devoted to bringing glory to God? "Let him who boasts boast in the Lord." (1 Cor. 1:31) Man by nature is good at bragging about himself and his accomplishments. But this obsession with self gets replaced with God's secret wisdom once a person bows the knee to the Lord and admits, "I am a sinner and I cannot save myself. Cleanse me Jesus of my sin." Such a confession, when made sincerely, destroys pride and replaces it with humility before God and man. And it led Paul to honestly proclaim, "May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ." (Gal. 6:14)
How can a person be emptied of pride and filled with the Holy Spirit? Such a drastic change requires the miracle of conversion. Through repentance and faith in Christ, spiritual conversion turns a person into "a new creation." (Gal. 6:15) Saved people think differently than lost people. Prior to conversion, we lived according to our natural instincts. But the moment we received Christ as Savior, (John 1:12) we received a new nature. And this new nature contains the secret wisdom of God.
The apostle John described believers this way: "You have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth." (1 John 2:20) In other words, you now possess God's secret wisdom, whereas prior to your conversion you only understood "the wisdom of the world." (1 Cor. 1:20) But that old way of thinking and living is doomed to destruction. It cannot please God because it does not rely upon Jesus. "Without faith it is impossible to please God." (Hebrews 11:6)
"So how do I get faith?" Well, don't think of it merely as needing to "get faith." Instead, consider your need for Christ. Consider your sin as well as the cross where Jesus died to pay for your transgressions. When you embrace the truth about your sin and your Savior, you enter the realm of God's secret wisdom. It's on a different wavelength than the wisdom of the world. And this is one reason "the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God." (1 Cor. 1:18) The cross doesn't make sense until you receive Christ as Savior and believe the Gospel. (John 3:16)
There is a "portal" of sorts one must walk through in order to possess God's secret wisdom. It brings your soul into vital contact with the living Lord of the universe. In The Chronicles of Narnia, C.S. Lewis created a story involving four children walking through a wardrobe in an English country house. It serves as the portal into a mysterious and wonderful land called "Narnia." In the real world, you enter a place of grace "in the heavenly realms" (Eph. 2:6) the moment you walk by faith through the Gospel portal. "Faith comes from hearing the message." (Rom. 10:17) And in this new realm, God's secret wisdom is no longer a mystery to you.
But if you turn away from the Lord in this holy moment, you may never again find yourself this close to God's supernatural portal. It is the only place where sins are forgiven and heavenly secrets are revealed. If you would like to receive forgiveness, salvation and God's secret wisdom, the following prayer and profession of faith can help you confess your sins and profess your trust in the Savior who gave His life for you on the cross:
Lord Jesus, I am a sinner and I cannot remove the stain of sin from my soul. But I believe you died on the cross to pay for my sins. Wash away my sins with the blood you shed for me. Be the Lord of my life and the Savior of my soul. Guide me, lead me, and fill me with the Holy Spirit. Empower me as your disciple until the day I enter paradise where I will live with you forever. Thank you Jesus for enduring the intense agony and suffering of crucifixion in order to redeem my soul for eternity. Amen.
