Who or what is Wisdom as described in Proverbs 8?

The entire Book of Proverbs speaks a lot about Wisdom and how Wisdom is the principal thing. Wisdom is none other than our Saviour Jesus Christ. 1 Corinthians 1:30 says of our Heavenly Father in Him:

“But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God—and righteousness and sanctification and redemption—“

See the Good News Translation: “But God has brought you into union with Christ Jesus, and God has made Christ to be our wisdom. By Him we are put right with God; we become God's holy people and are set free.”

By Jesus Christ, “Wisdom from God” Himself, we are put right with God, become sanctified and redeemed. Wisdom isn’t something that man can muster up or acquire through human effort, hard work or experience. Wisdom is not knowledge. A person can acquire all the knowledge and experience in the world and still not have wisdom. This is how come such a thing as oncologists who smoke exist. Bear in mind that the reason why any who is a non-doer of whatever it is that puts life at risk is so is because he has not been tempted beyond what he can bear in that area. If a big enough temptation arose and we relied on the arm of flesh (human effort) to stand as Peter did before he denied Christ, we’d all be chimneys and drug addicts by now. We have nothing to boast about here. Romans 5:19 says -

“By one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous.”

As believers, we are made righteous 100% by Christ’s obedience and not our own puny efforts at obedience. Christ our “Wisdom from God” did it all. The absence of Wisdom (Jesus Christ) is why a preacher who professes to follow Christ can stand behind a pulpit to tell believers that trying to keep the law and doing its works is what makes one righteous/godly before God. Notice that there is no Wisdom (Jesus Christ) in this equation of dependence on human effort for the attainment of godliness/righteousness -- the same one that Satan preached to Eve in Eden? It is all about what you must do to be godly (be like God) and not what Christ has done to make the sinner who believes righteous. There is no Wisdom in this false doctrine. Beware of such anti-Wisdom (antichrist) teachings.

Matthew 1:21 says of Jesus Christ our Wisdom from God— 

“And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”

The absence of Wisdom (Jesus Christ) is why a preacher can stand behind a pulpit and say to churchgoers:

“You had better do your best to get rid of your sins and addictions and be godly (be like God) or else God will punish you and the devil will attack you.”

As if all sinners loves to wallow in sins and have not been doing their best to be rid of them --- this is akin to believing that Peter enjoyed denying Jesus and could not wait for an opportunity to deny Jesus; or that Judas (whom Satan entered) was somewhere having the time of his life splurging on goats, sheep and new fields with the money he received from his betrayal of Jesus. In reality, Judas was depressed and suicidal --- as are many in the world today (even non-believers) who depend on themselves (human effort aka arm of flesh) to do or make things right in their lives. 

What do we think is the major cause of depression and suicide even among non-believers? It is guilt for sins, fear, anxiety, hopelessness and sorrow in the heart for sins aka not measuring up to particular standards - no different from what happened to Judas who was full of remorse and blamed himself for his sin.

The word "sin" is translated from the Greek word Hamartia- literally "miss the mark."

Notice that there is no Wisdom (Jesus Christ) in the equation of living in triumph over sin and death preceded by its symptoms of earthly ills? Understand that all earthly ills e.g. stupid mistakes, depression, illness, etc are symptoms of death. It is all about what you must do and not about Christ our “Wisdom from God” saving from sin and death. There is no Wisdom (Jesus Christ) here. Beware of such teachings.

Recall Galatians 3: - 

“13 Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”), 14 that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.”

The absence of Wisdom (Jesus Christ) is why a preacher can stand behind a pulpit and tell churchgoers that generational or other curses still remain in their lives of believers in Christ. Notice that there is no Wisdom (Jesus Christ) in their own equation of redemption from the curse? It is all about what you must do to break curses and not about believing what Christ our “Wisdom from God” has done to redeem us from the curse. There is no Wisdom (Jesus Christ) here. Beware of such teachings.

Recall Romans 5:9- “And there is still much more to say of His unfailing love for us! For through the blood of Jesus we have heard the powerful declaration, “You are now righteous in My sight.” And because of the sacrifice of Jesus, you will never experience the wrath of God.”

The absence of Wisdom (Jesus Christ) is how come a preacher can stand behind a pulpit and tell believers that they will experience or are experiencing the wrath/anger of God for whatever reason. Notice that there is no Wisdom (Jesus Christ) in their own equation of salvation from God’s wrath. It is all about what you must do and not about what Christ our Wisdom from God has done to save us from wrath. There is no Wisdom (Jesus Christ) here. Beware of such teachings.

So much more.

Believers, by God’s grace, believe right. Our salvation, from our being called to Christ all the way to the Rapture when we will be with Christ forever is a complete package that Christ paid for fully at the cross. It is akin to your Father ordering and paying for several items from Amazon on your behalf and meticulously arranging for each package to arrive at your exact point of need. The items - salvation from sins and earthly ills, good health, freedom from stupid mistakes, anxiety and depression, godly living, healing the sick, etc - might not all manifest at once, but they are all yours. The Rapture where we who believe receive our new body which can never be subject to the ravages of the world is the final package in the order.

Imagine a child expressing his distrust in his Father by believing that he has to do certain things in order to pay for the same items a second time before he can enjoy them. He is rejecting the price that the Father paid for getting him those items. This way, his Father’s payment on his behalf amounts to nothing in his life. See Galatians 2:21-

“I do not ignore or nullify the [gracious gift of the] grace of God [His amazing, unmerited favor], for if righteousness comes through [observing] the Law, then Christ died needlessly. [His suffering and death would have had no purpose whatsoever.]”

Many who profess Christ are trying to earn what He already paid for in full (righteousness, peace, health, freedom from oppression, wholeness, joy, tranquility, the Rapture, even the gifts of the Spirit and eternal life) by trying to obeying the law and doing good things and so make His death meaningless in their lives. Believer, human effort (the arm of flesh) is not involved at all in the story of our salvation. We are saved by grace through faith (Eph. 2:8.) If an iota of human effort is involved, it is no longer grace (Romans 6:11) and thus no salvation. When your believing is right, right living will follow. Only believe, and even this we do only by God’s grace. See John 6:

“43-46 Jesus said, “Don’t bicker among yourselves over Me. You’re not in charge here. The Father who sent Me is in charge. He draws people to Me—that’s the only way you’ll ever come. Only then do I do My work, putting people together, setting them on their feet, ready for the End.””

Christ our “Wisdom from God” does it all. See what Wisdom is saying in Proverbs 8:

4 “I’m calling to you, sons of Adam, yes, and to you daughters as well. 5 Listen to me and you will be prudent and wise. For even the foolish and feeble can receive an understanding heart that will change their inner being. 6 The meaning of my words will release within you revelation for you to reign in life.”

Notice what Wisdom says about how to “reign in life” in verse 6- “The meaning of my words will release within you revelation for you to reign in life.” Now consider the words of Wisdom in Romans 5:17–

“For if by the one man’s offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.)”

See the New Living Translation with verse 16 inclusive: “And the result of God’s gracious gift is very different from the result of that one man’s sin. For Adam’s sin led to condemnation, but God’s free gift leads to our being made right with God, even though we are guilty of many sins. 17 For the sin of this one man, Adam, caused death to rule over many. But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and His gift of righteousness, for all who receive it will live in triumph over sin and death through this one Man, Jesus Christ." Romans 5:16-17.

Wisdom is still preaching to us about the Way to reign in life (live in triumph over sin and death) as He is doing in Proverbs. It is through Himself, Jesus Christ, and only by us receiving God’s abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness. This is how to reign in life.

Through Adam, death reigned. In Christ, we are no longer “sons of Adam” but children of God because we believe—

“But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name:” John 1:12.

Many who profess Christ still believe like sons of Adam- trying to be godly (be like God) by human effort. Such reject God’s abundance of grace and His gift of righteousness to us in Christ for their own righteousnesses that proceed from their own obedience to the law. See the forbidden fruit as a picture of the law which false teachers are leading churchgoers to feed on for the attainment of godliness in Romans 7:8-12 (MSG)-

"Don’t you remember how it was? I do, perfectly well. The law code started out as an excellent piece of work. What happened, though, was that sin found a way to pervert the command into a temptation, making a piece of “forbidden fruit” out of it. The law code, instead of being used to guide me, was used to seduce me."

Through his agents that are manning some church pulpits, Satan is still seducing people into trying to attain godliness (be like God) through doing the seemingly good thing of keeping the law. But just like the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, the letter (law) kills and gives the same knowledge. There is only death reigning through Adam’s offense here. As it was in Eden, the result of following their false doctrine is sin has dominion (Romans 6:14) and death reigns (Romans 5:17.) Only in Jesus Christ the Tree of Life do we get to live the abundant life and He already paid the price for our salvation in full. No additives of human striving required. Christ our Wisdom from God says in Proverbs 8:5--

“Listen to me and you will be prudent and wise. For even the foolish and feeble can receive an understanding heart that will change their inner being.”

So much to say about Wisdom. He says in Proverbs 28:26--

“He who leans on, trusts in, and is confident of his own mind and heart is a [self-confident] fool, but he who walks in skillful and godly Wisdom shall be delivered.”

See The Passion Translation: “Self-confident know-it-alls will prove to be fools. But when you lean on the wisdom from above, you will have a way to escape the troubles of your own making.”

Salvation, even salvation from sins, is not at all about behaviour modification or suppressing sins by human effort aka arm of flesh that will fail as it did Peter who knew that he could never deny Christ. The arm of flesh will fail and when it does, those suppressed sins will explode in a volcanic eruption of sinful deeds that lead to death (Romans 7:5.) Salvation in Christ is about hearts’ transformation by the Holy Spirit. Christ does it all- even salvation from those sins and addictions that hold one captive. Matthew 1:21 says of Jesus Christ our Wisdom from God—

“And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”

By God’s grace, never trust yourself or what you think you can do in your own strength aka arm of flesh — this is the hallmark of lacking Wisdom. Rather, trust utterly in Christ who is Wisdom Himself. Receive God's abundance of Grace and His gift of righteousness and rest as Christ our Wisdom from God changes your inner being. This is right believing.

When your believing is right, right living will follow.