The wisdom of Christ plays a very important role in the book of Colossians. In fact, Paul alludes to wisdom literature a number of times throughout the book. The book of Proverbs exemplifies wisdom literature. Solomon writes Proverbs in order to teach his son about the pursuit of wisdom. Paul implicitly replaces the pursuit of wisdom with the pursuit of Christ.
I want to point out a couple passages in Colossians, in which Paul does this.
Colossians 1:10 is Paul’s prayer that God might fill the Colossians with wisdom and spiritual understanding. The wisdom that Paul asks for is a wisdom, which will teach the Colossians to live well before God. Proverbs gives the same reason for pursuing wisdom. When a young man fears the Lord, he gains wisdom, which is the ability to make good decisions day by day.
Colossians 1: 15-20 teaches us about the source of that wisdom. The source of that wisdom is Christ. Christ performs a similar function to the wisdom through which the Lord created the world in Proverbs 8. Like wisdom, Christ is the means for creating the earth. Christ is not the same as wisdom. Rather, he is the source of wisdom. Proverbs 1:7 teaches the same thing about God: “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.”
Paul confirms all this in Colossians 2:2-3. Paul teaches that all the treasures of wisdom are hidden in Christ. Proverbs teaches us to pursue Wisdom. Implicitly, Colossians teaches us to pursue Christ. After all, if all the treasures of wisdom are hidden in Christ, that means we should be seeking out those treasures.
In the remainder of chapter 2, the treasures of Christ are contrasted with the elemental principles of this world. Christ is sufficient for all knowledge and all wisdom. This doesn’t mean you can’t have a type of wisdom without Christ. Rather, you don’t need anything other than Christ himself in order to live well before him.
All this puts chapter 3 in a new light as well. Christ raises Christians to the heavenly places so that they dwell with the source of wisdom. Christians are now free to pursue Christ. When they pursue Christ they begin to understand his desires for a holy life before God.
Finally, in chapter 4, Paul tells us, “walk in wisdom towards outsiders.” The wisdom of Christ affects all areas of the Christian life. If Christ is the source of wisdom, we demonstrate Christ by walking in wisdom.