B
Solomon’s God-given wisdom made him great in the world in his days; however, his wisdom was absolutely in the physical realm, without any spiritual element; his wisdom was a shadow of the real wisdom that was to come, and it was altogether different from the wisdom of Paul—1:24, 30.
C
Paul’s wisdom was a spiritual wisdom concerning Christ making His home in our hearts (Eph. 3:17), our walking and having our being according to the spirit (Rom. 8:4), and the two spirits—the divine Spirit and the human spirit—mingled together as one spirit (v. 16; 1 Cor. 6:17).
D
The mysteries of God’s economy were disclosed mainly to Paul (Col. 2:2; Eph. 3:3-5, 9-10); today, if we would know the highest wisdom in the universe, we must get into the crystallization of the truths in Paul’s Epistles; the real wisdom is God, who is embodied in Christ, who has become our wisdom to be in us, making us one with God and making us God in life and in nature but not in the Godhead; thus, we become the masterpiece of the Triune God, His poem, displaying His infinite wisdom and divine design (1 Cor. 1:24, 30; Eph. 2:10; 3:9-11).
Morning Nourishment
1 Cor. 1:24 ...Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.30 But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became wisdom to us from God: both righteousness and sanctification and redemption.
In 1 Kings 4:29-34 we see that Solomon’s God-given wisdom made him great in the world in his days. God gave him very much understanding and largeness of heart, even as the sand on the seashore (v. 29). Solomon, therefore, had a large heart... In his wisdom Solomon spoke 3, 00 proverbs and wrote 1, 05 songs (1 Kings 4:32). Furthermore, he discoursed about trees... ; he discoursed also about animals, birds, creeping things, and fish (v. 33).
Solomon’s wisdom was absolutely in the physical realm, without any spiritual element. His wisdom was altogether different from the wisdom of Paul. Paul’s wisdom was a spiritual wisdom concerning Christ making His home in our hearts (Eph. 3:17), our walking and having our being according to the spirit (Rom. 8:4), and the two spirits—the divine Spirit and the human spirit (v. 16). Today, God the Spirit is the all-inclusive Spirit, the compound Spirit, the life-giving Spirit, the indwelling Spirit, the anointing Spirit, the revealing Spirit, and the consummated Spirit as the consummation of the processed Triune God. (Life-study of 1 & 2 Kings, p. 23)
Today’s Reading
Jehovah appeared to Solomon in a dream and promised to give him whatever he would ask (1 Kings 3:5).Solomon asked Jehovah to give him wisdom and an understanding heart to judge God’s people (vv. 6-9). Wisdom is a matter in our spirit, and understanding is a matter in our mind... Quite often we may have wisdom in our spirit but are lacking the capacity to understand in our mind. Thus, we need God’s wisdom in our spirit and God’s understanding in our mind.
We should not overly appreciate Solomon’s glory. The Lord Jesus said of the lilies of the field, “I tell you that not even Solomon in all his glory was clothed like one of these” (Matt. 6:29)... Solomon himself eventually admitted that what he had and did was vanity of vanities (Eccl. 1:2).
The Bible is composed of two sections. The first section, the Old Testament, contains types, shadows, and figures. The reality of the types, shadows, and figures is in the second section, the New Testament. Solomon’s wisdom was a shadow of the real wisdom which was to come.
In the transition period between these two sections, the Lord Jesus said, “Among those born of women there has not arisen one greater than John the Baptist, yet he who is least in the kingdom of the heavens is greater than he” (Matt. 11:11). John the Baptist, a pioneer of the New Testament age, was greater than Solomon, but as New Testament believers we are greater still. This means that, in God’s economy, we are greater than Solomon... We were born into mankind, but we have been regenerated, transformed, and uplifted to be another kind. We are not just men in the new creation; we are God-men.
The disciples could not have fully understood the Lord’s word concerning John the Baptist. Later He told them that the Spirit of reality would come and disclose all things to them (John 16:12-15). The mysteries of God’s economy were disclosed mainly to Paul (Eph. 3:3-5)... Today, if we would know the highest wisdom in the universe, we must come to Paul’s Epistles. We must get into the intrinsic significance of the revelation of the Bible, especially the crystallization of the truths in Paul’s Epistles. The real wisdom is God, and God is embodied in Christ, who has become our wisdom to be in us (1 Cor. 1:24, 30), making us one with God and making us God in life and in nature. What a wisdom this is! (Life-study of 1 & 2 Kings, pp. 18, 24-25)
Further Reading: CWWN, vol. 54, “The Breaking of the Outer Man and the Release of the Spirit,” chs. 6-8