I started my book, Solomon Says, with a discussion of learning to drive as an extended analogy (or perhaps example?) of gaining wisdom. I compared the transformation that occurs in a modern teen who changes from an exclusive passenger to a driver to the transformation to adult maturity and (for a Christian) godliness.
One element that intrigued me about this analogy (or example?) is that it had an obvious parallel to human culture through history. There was a time when no one thought a sixteen-year-olds would often be piloting self-propelled vehicles faster than a mile a minute. That thought would have been considered crazy. Even if the technology was imagined, probably no one would think of controlling such a machine as an everyday skill. It was not considered a part of human potential.
Yet, here we are. We live in an age of mechanized superheroes and invent fantasy characters like Tony Stark/Ironman to make us blind (or because we are blind) to the fantastic miracle that occurred in human history through the automotive revolution.
Wisdom isn’t just for persons; it can and does sometimes happen in history.
In Solomon Says, I discuss the transformation that happened in Israel during the reigns of David and Solomon that made wisdom a necessary emphasis in Israel. That was a dim shadow to what happened during the the conquest and resulting enthronement of Jesus:
He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His kind intention which He purposed in Him with a view to an administration suitable to the fullness of the times, that is, the summing up of [to unite–ESV] all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth (Ephesians 1:9, 10 NASB 1995).
To me, the very least of all saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ, and to bring to light what is the administration of the mystery which for ages has been hidden in God who created all things; so that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the church to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly places (Ephesians 3:8-11 NASB 1995).
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen. (Galatians 1:3–5 ESV).
Jesus obviously delivered us from the era of sin and death. But it is important to realize that God created humanity in a state of “childhood.” The era of a separation of heaven and earth began before sin entered the picture. It began with the creation of the firmament on day 2 of Genesis 1, the only day that God does not evaluate as “good.” We are given part of the framework for understanding what this means in Genesis 2 when God evaluates that it “in not good for Adam to be alone” and created the first woman. So, according to Ephesians 1:9, 10 (quoted above), Jesus not only ended the reign of sin, but also brought creation beyond it’s first stage.
Correspondent to this, humanity became fully adult:
Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming Faith would be revealed. So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith. But now that the Faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise. I mean that the heir, as long as he is a child, is no different from a slave, though he is the owner of everything, but he is under guardians and managers until the date set by his father. In the same way we also, when we were children, were enslaved to the elements of the world. But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God (Galatians 3:23-4:7 ESV with slight changes).
Jesus didn’t just embody wisdom from God (1 Corinthians 1:20), but he moved us into the age of our adulthood, our maturity.
In a real sense, by his presence and work, Jesus ushered the world to the age on Humanity. Christ, as a Human being, having been born under the custodians of our infancy (“guardians and managers,” “the elements of the world),” was elevated to rule the world as the transformed humanity.
For if, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ (Romans 5:17 ESV).
It is essential to realize what Jesus did was unique and done for us because we could never do it for ourselves. It is also essential to realize that Jesus, set an example for us into which he gave us the power to develop, if we entrust ourselves to him. He not only opened up a new world to us, but showed us how to function it it. Thus:
But Jesus called them to him and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:25–28 ESV).
So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father (Philippians 2:1–11 ESV).
The one who conquers and who keeps my works until the end, to him I will give authority over the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron, as when earthen pots are broken in pieces, even as I myself have received authority from my Father (Revelation 2:26–27 ESV).
Many other passages could be cited. My point is that Jesus, among other accomplishments, served as a proof-of-concept for a new humanity. He was a new model vehicle that we now take for granted to an extent, though we must become much better drivers as we progress into the future. Christ not only met the standards of the old world but set the goals of a new world come of age. The “New Testament” is a story of childhood’s end (“this present evil age” [Galatians 1:4], “the end of the ages” [1 Corinthians 10:11]), and the dawn of the age of true wisdom and enthroned humanity.
Jesus’s own childhood, from the day of his birth, is part of that story.
Merry Christmas!