A Puritan Theology: Doctrine for Life in a Year:
In the person and work of Jesus Christ, wisdom shines forth with a luster seen nowhere else in God’s dealings with creation (Col. 2:3). In the gospel, the wisdom of God is described in several ways, all of which serve to confirm [Stephen Charnock’s (1628-1680)] contention that wisdom is an essential attribute of God whereby all of the attributes of God are ordered.
The wisdom manifested in the gospel is a hidden wisdom (1 Tim. 1:17), also known as a mystery. In redemption there is, instead of one act, multiple ends and means that display the glory of God in His wisdom.
For example, in the gospel one learns of the “conjunction of two natures…the union of eternity and time, of mortality and immortality: death is made the way to life, and shame the path to glory.” God’s wisdom is displayed by the fact that God’s justice and mercy are both satisfied: “justice in punishing, and mercy in pardoning.”
In a similar vein, Thomas Goodwin speaks of redemption as God’s “masterpiece, wherein he means to bring all his attributes upon the stage.”
(A Puritan Theology, p. 72)
