Proverbs 8:22-23
The Lord possessed me at the beginning of His way, before His works of old. I have been established from everlasting, from the beginning, before there was ever an earth.
Jesus Christ is both the eternal Word and the creator. John 1:1-3 explicitly affirms this connection: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. Just as Proverbs 8 portrays wisdom as present at the foundation of the world, Jesus, the Logos, was active in creation, bringing order and life into being.
Wisdom in Proverbs speaks of being established before the beginning of the earth, highlighting a primacy and authority that transcends temporal creation. Colossians 1:16-17 affirms that by Jesus Christ all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. Paul identifies Christ as the creator and sustainer of all that exists. Through Christ, God’s wisdom is a living, relational reality that interacts with humanity and creation.
Moreover, Proverbs 8 portrays wisdom as delighting in God’s presence and rejoicing in the inhabited world. This joy and intimacy are fully realized in Christ, who perfectly reveals God’s character to humanity. Hebrews 1:2-3 clarifies this fulfillment: Godhas in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.
Proverbs presents wisdom as calling out to humanity, offering instruction, life, and protection: Hear instruction and be wise, and do not disdain it. Blessed is the man who listens to me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at the posts of my doors. For whoever finds me finds life, and obtains favour from the Lord; but he who sins against me wrongs his own soul; all those who hate me love death (Proverbs 8:33-36). Jesus fulfills this salvific aspect as the incarnate Wisdom who invites all to participate in God’s kingdom. As 1 Corinthians 1:24 states, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God, making clear that the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus are the ultimate expression of divine wisdom. The personified wisdom that spoke at creation now speaks in Christ, offering eternal life to those who heed His voice.
Through Jesus Christ, the eternal Word and Wisdom, humanity encounters God’s creative power, guidance, and redemptive love, bridging heaven and earth in a way that Proverbs only anticipated but Christ fully accomplishes.
Prayer points:
- seek God’s counsel first in everything.
- remain at the ‘gates’ of God’s truth.
- bear witness to God’s saving wisdom.
