The whole world measures time based on the birth of Christ. In many ways, the world became new again because of Jesus.

Rome had spent many years and thousands of man-hours constructing a system of roads through the countries they conquered. The Roman roads were built to carry soldiers, chariots, and weapons of war. Those same roads were also used to carry the word of God throughout the land.

Rome had established itself as the world power. There was relative peace throughout the civilized nations. Rome had shared their markets, their language, their money, their culture, and their belief in multiple gods with the world as well.

The Jewish people had revolted against the Romans and had reconciled themselves to their rule. Yet, their faith and values still held a stronger influence in their lives than Roman laws and ideals. 

As Paul wrote, “But, when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law.” The studies of the timing of Christ’s birth are fascinating. Jesus picked the perfect time to come. Most people spoke one language and therefore understood his sermons. Rome protected his freedom to speak even when his Jewish brothers did not. The Roman culture had many gods and therefore was less concerned when Jesus was just “one more.” Jesus was born to be the sacrificial lamb, and Rome was even the reason he would be hung on a cross. 

What Rome did not understand was that Jesus was born in the fullness of time “to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons” (Galatians 4:5). Jesus didn’t come to usher in new followers of the old covenant law or  new citizens of Rome. Jesus was born to help people understand their “citizenship” was in heaven because they were the adopted children of the Holy God. 

Wisdom is understanding that the gift of Jesus is our treasure. Jesus wisely and carefully chose to be born at that particular time in history. And world history was reborn at that same time.

Most of us can quote John 3:16, but we don’t finish Jesus’ message to Nicodemus without verse 17. Jesus said, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” Then Jesus told Nicodemus why he had come to save the world: “God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.”

It is the week of Christmas. Most of us will spend time this week with someone in our circle of friends, or even in our families, who does not believe in Jesus like we do. Most of those people will feel like we “condemn” their way of thinking, and they would be right. How do we condemn their lack of belief without condemning them?

Most of the time, John 3:17 is our answer and our Christian perspective. If Jesus told Nicodemus his purpose was to save rather than condemn, then we know that truth is our purpose as well. 

We can get caught up in the need to be right, which can justify some wrong words if we aren’t careful. We can get caught up condemning their wrong beliefs and never earn the right to offer them the truth about Jesus. He was born to save, not to condemn. If we don’t follow our Lord’s motivations, we follow something or someone less.

God so loved the world he gave his Son to anyone who would believe. God wants people to live their earthly lives with the promise and hope of life eternal. God did not send Jesus to condemn the world. Instead, Jesus was born to save the world.

But there is one point of theology we must stand firmly upon. God will only give his Son and his salvation to those who will believe. God doesn’t want anyone to perish, but salvation is a personal choice, and God won’t force anyone to choose. Jesus was not born to condemn; he was born to save. John 3:17 is the only way to share John 3:16.

Wisdom is understanding that the gift of Jesus is our treasure. Our treasure was given to us so we would carefully share it with others. If unbelievers realized we owned and were willing to share a “pearl of great price” (Matthew 13:46), they might be more ready to listen to our message.

The guards at Buckingham Palace stand watch regardless of weather, crowds, or other distractions. They are a picture of the word steadfast. James said that God’s children are blessed when they remain steadfast in their faith.

Job’s faith wasn’t perfect, but it was steadfast. He endured loss, illness, grief, and abandonment, yet he remained faithful to his God. Job understood that God’s purpose is always accomplished in our lives. God’s character is compassionate and merciful, even when it doesn’t seem like it.

This life has trials, and so often our faith in God’s character can waver. Job was steadfast, and he was blessed because, regardless of his circumstances, he chose to trust God’s perfect character.

God is love. God is always compassionate and always merciful because his perfection makes him incapable of being less. We can be steadfast in our faith when we know God as Job knew him. God is perfect, even when our understanding of his ways is not. God is loving, even when our circumstances cause us pain. God is compassionate because he feels with us. God is merciful because he consistently loves us, even when we don’t feel love for him.

Consider the perfection of our loving God and your faith can be like Job’s. Remain steadfast regardless of the challenges and distractions of this world and, like Job, you will be blessed. Our faith will never be perfect, but thankfully our God is.

To know God is the beginning of wisdom. Know that God is compassionate and merciful.

From the beginning of time, people have worshiped Jehovah God, but there will never be a time when all people will choose to walk in his ways. Adam and Eve’s unbelieving son killed his brother, who had been faithful. Some of King David’s sons worshiped God and others did not. Judas betrayed Jesus, God’s one and only Son. God is perfect and his word proves true. Those who don’t understand or disagree with that fact will always be proven wrong.

God’s way is perfect, but not everyone believes that. God provided his word so that everyone would always know how to live eternally in heaven. Thousands of years later, the word of the Lord has remained true. C. S. Lewis was a brilliant thinker who set out to disprove Scripture and the existence of God. Instead, C. S. Lewis met the Lord in his word and became a brilliant theologian after understanding the Bible was true.

God is a shield of protection to anyone who will trust him with their lives. He cannot be a shield to those who refuse his protection. He created us with free will so we could be made in his image. Our choice is to trust his word and his character or trust something less. But why would we?

God is perfect and so are his ways. God’s word has been proven true in every generation. And God’s promises have been fulfilled and are still being fulfilled today. We all have a choice to make. We can make God’s way our shield and find refuge in him or we can place our trust in something less. 

God is perfectly able, perfectly true, and eternally proven. We can trust him to be our shield and our safe place of refuge. “Choose this day whom you will serve. . . . But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord” (Joshua 24:15). Joshua trusted Jehovah God to do great things. So can you. 

To know God is the beginning of wisdom. Know God’s ways have always been perfect.

Every generation has marveled at a sunrise and sunset. Everyone has been startled by a loud clap of thunder. We pause to look at the beauty and wonder in nature because God created all of us with the desire to know him and his unfathomable greatness.

There is a difference between the things people create and the things only God could create. God’s creation is infinite and beyond human ability. God made man in his image, giving him abilities and imagination. However, everything that humans create is finite, having a beginning and an end. 

God wanted us to know his eternal greatness so he created this world to display his power and glory. Humans can only create from what has been created by God’s will. 

We should take great care in our lives to honor and worship the Creator rather than the created. Only God is worthy of our highest praise. He is Lord. His righteous right hand created our world to display his glory. We will love what we extol.

The angels in heaven surround God’s throne saying, “Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power” (Revelation 4:11). They know he is holy, Almighty God “who was and is and is to come” (v. 8).

Mankind has created some amazing and impressive things, but nothing that has been made is comparable to the work of the Creator. Only God is worthy of our worship. Worship him as the angels in heaven are worshiping him today. He is your holy, Almighty God, worthy of all praise.

Knowing God is the beginning of wisdom. Know that God is worthy of glory and honor and praise.

Every human being experiences God through his creation. Paul said that no one has an excuse to walk through life ignoring the fact that there is a higher power at work in our world. Nature reveals the infinite greatness of God. Human nature is a consistent revelation that all people have limits. Everything created has a Creator.

The most convinced atheist has seen God’s eternal power and divine nature. The most educated scientist understands how much is still not understood. The most remote cultures and people groups have perceived the power of God. The created world reveals the Creator. Everyone will stand before God someday, without excuse.

The world around us exists to remind us of God’s creative genius and infinite power. The quiet serenity of an open field blanketed with fresh snow. The soft breathing of a sleeping infant. The brilliant colors of a sunrise or sunset. The thunderous sound of a river or waterfall after a huge storm. The unceasing roll of waves onto a shore. The night sky filled with unreachable stars and planets.

What in nature causes you to pause and think about the infinite greatness of God? Now, consider this: most of God’s attributes are invisible. Creation is just a glimpse of God’s eternal power and divine nature. 

Scripture teaches that everyone has glimpsed God. Even a person who is blind has experienced the winds and the scents found in nature. A person who is deaf has viewed the miraculous colors in creation. We are moved by the powerful combination of sounds and rhythms that form our favorite music. How many senses has God given that enable us to know and experience his greatness?

Everyone has seen the Creator through his creation. No one has an excuse for unbelief.

Knowing God is the beginning of wisdom. You can know that God gives everyone the ability and opportunity to know they have a divine, powerful Creator.

The Apostle John is referred to as the “beloved” disciple. In many ways, he was the follower of Christ who most understood what it meant to love the Lord. One of the best pictures of John’s love for the Lord is seen at the foot of the cross. John was the only disciple with Christ that day. John is also the disciple Jesus chose to visit with the prophetic words of Revelation. John loved Jesus even while imprisoned on the island of Patmos. John knew, even then, that he was loved by his Lord.

We don’t use the word abide in our daily conversations very often. The word is a verb and means to accept or act in accordance with someone or something. The Apostle John, the beloved disciple, wrote that when we abide in God’s love, we abide with God and he abides with us. John understood what it meant to abide with Jesus, even in the worst of times.

How do we abide with God? We know and believe in the love God has for us. We recognize that the God of the universe adores his children. Christians are loved with a powerful, unending love.

We can draw near to God by knowing and trusting his great love for us. We can know God’s voice by understanding that God desires to speak with us. We can experience God’s love by abiding in his presence. God is love, so everyone who knows God can know his love.

So then, why do we sometimes not sense his love in our lives? The key is in the definition of the word abide. To abide with God is to choose to accept or act in accordance with God. When we don’t act with God’s love, we are choosing not to abide with God. No wonder our prayers can feel like they’re bouncing back at times! We shouldn’t be surprised by our dark thoughts, feelings, and attitudes if we have stopped abiding in the One who is light.

When you feel distant from God, rush to abide in his love and you will rush into God’s presence. Be confident in the belief that you are loved by God and you can be filled with his love for others. 

God is love. John knew that at the foot of the cross and on the island of Patmos. If you want to abide more closely with God, choose to abide in his love whatever your circumstances. God gives his love to you so you can then provide it to others. Abide in God so that he will abide in you. That’s how we come to know and believe in our loving God.

To know God is the beginning of wisdom. To know God is to want to abide in his love.

All of us have made decisions we are proud of and others we regret. Sometimes even our best efforts fall short. One of the best lessons I ever learned about the nature of God was a study of his perfection. God’s perfection renders him incapable of error. He can’t make a mistake (although sloths, spiders, and slithery things might cause a few doubts).

The psalmist wrote that all of God’s work is done in faithfulness. God is always faithfully working in our lives according to his upright, perfect word. We often hear about our need to be faithful to God’s word. How comforting to realize that God is faithful to work according to his word as well!

We can know what God is doing because we can know what God has done. We can know what God wants for our lives because God’s word reveals his will. We can know the high standards God wants for his children because he has made those standards clear. And we can know and trust his grace because story upon story illustrates his character that always leads him to redeem.

When there are decisions that need to be made, we can trust his word is “upright” and true. Even more, we can trust that God is purely and perfectly holy, incapable of ever being anything less. And God has promised to work faithfully in our lives as we yield our free will to his perfect will.

Maybe our greatest gift is that our imperfect decisions can be “remade” by God’s redemption. He makes all things good in his time. The same God who created the world is at work in our lives, creating all we need to live out his plan for our lives. Our will might stand against his for a time, but his redemption will return us to his Plan A or lead us to his redemptive Plan B. Either way, we prosper!

To know God is the beginning of wisdom. You can know God is faithfully working to guide, prosper, and redeem your life according to his perfect plan.

It would be hard to trust a financial adviser if you thought that person didn’t really like you. It would be difficult to take advice from someone you believed would do you harm. We expect a few people might make our lives difficult at times, but it’s hard on our faith when God allows us to suffer. One of the tallest hurdles we face with God is learning to trust him when our circumstances don’t feel like the results of his promised favor and blessing.

God told the prophet Jeremiah that even when circumstances become difficult, God’s children could continue to trust their future to God. Jeremiah wrote to the captives of Israel, many of whom were faithful followers of God. The faithful Israelites were taken captive alongside the unfaithful. 

Consider the story of Daniel and his friends. The faithful hadn’t led perfect lives, but they didn’t deserve their enslavement. Their feelings of disappointment toward God would have been understandable. God told Jeremiah to teach them to trust God’s plan for the future despite their personal suffering in the present.

God said, “Trust the plans I have for you. My plan is to prosper you with hope for the future.”

The nation of Israel was held captive for seventy years. Many of the captives never saw their hopes fulfilled, but that didn’t mean they couldn’t have hope for their future and for their future generations.

We seek advisors whom we trust will have our best interests in mind. We hope their advice will pay off quickly, but sometimes our investment is meant to be a blessing for others. Good advice should prosper other people too, and God’s advice always does. God’s plan encompasses much more than our present circumstances.

We trust God because we are his children. He has promised to give us “hope and a future” with him in heaven. Even the most difficult circumstances of our earthly lives can work for the good of our welfare and our eternal future. When we are God’s children, we always have future hope. That is our promise from God.

To know God is the beginning of wisdom. Trusting God is the hope and assurance that our future is secured by his perfect plan.

People of every generation have placed their faith in God. Even the least faithful generation in history had a man named Noah. Faith in God extends back to the days when Adam and Eve walked with him in the Garden of Eden. Our God is the God of the ages, and there have always been people who knew him and worshiped him as God.

Why then are there still people who don’t believe in God? He has kept his word, his covenant, with every generation in history, but he isn’t able to keep it with every person. A close look at Deuteronomy 7:9 reveals that God keeps his covenant and steadfast love “with those who love him and keep his commandments.”

The best way to know and love God is to obey his word. Jesus said, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments” (John 14:15). We learn to love the Lord by walking in obedience to his direction. We experience his thoughts, his voice, and his holy presence in our lives through his Spirit.

We know that the Lord our God is God when we experience his transforming power in our lives. It's the same power Moses experienced when God parted the Red Sea. It's the same power King David knew when he faced his enemies. It's the peace and comfort Paul experienced when he was imprisoned in Rome. It's the same love and presence John experienced on the island of Patmos. We know that the Lord our God is God in the same ways the faithful people of every generation have believed.

God has always kept his covenant, and his love has always been steadfast in the lives of those who keep his commandments. When you adjust your choices to obey God’s word, you experience his favor and presence in your life. That has been true for every generation—and always will be.

To know God is the beginning of wisdom. You can know God by living in obedience to his word.