Nobody in their right mind would want
to return to life around the time Jesus was born. Infant mortality was
exceptionally high, although exactly how high is anybody’s guess. Only
5-percent of the population could read or write, so 95-percent of the
population could only communicate through speaking. Unless you were counted as
the privileged few, life on a day-to-day basis back in the 1st
century consisted of household chores or tending your farm; and this is what
you did every day, day after day. Mostly you were just barely eking out an
existence. I do recall reading somewhere that one’s life expectancy wasn’t much
past 35-years-old. But again, there is no way to really know.
The political system was corrupt beyond
measure. You remember in the Christmas story where Herod had all the
2-year-olds in Bethlehem killed. That was a good day for King Herod. He also
had his last three wives killed (he had ten of them, so there was some left to
spare), and their children because he thought they were trying to usurp his
throne.
There were no modern conveniences like indoor plumbing or
central heating. Your wardrobe consisted of pretty much what you had on that
day. Maybe an extra set of clothes to keep one set clean. Just to survive day
to day took a lot of wisdom.
There is a difference between being smart and being “wise.”
Smart people have a lot of knowledge.
Wise people have knowledge too, but they know what is true, useful and what is of
little use.
Consider the Apostle Paul, from the New
Testament. To this day, he is arguably the greatest theologian to walk the
earth. He did have some really good training, but that only led him to be very
angry with God. (See Acts chapter 7-9)
Jesus came along and got a hold of him
and that changed his knowledge to preaching the power of God to overcome a
person’s sin. He is the best example of someone with too much knowledge getting
converted to knowing how best to serve God, which is true wisdom.
Paul puts it this way in 1 Corinthians
3:18-20: (NASB)
18 Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you
thinks that he is wise in this age, he must become foolish, so that he may
become wise. 19 For the wisdom of this world is
foolishness before God. For it is written, “He is THE ONE WHO CATCHES THE WISE
IN THEIR CRAFTINESS”; 20 and again, “THE LORD KNOWS THE REASONINGS of the wise, THAT THEY ARE USELESS.”
What Paul is saying is that
many “smart” people think they are doing well and pleasing God, but God will
show them the error of their ways.
Paul’s later life was spent
dodging people who wanted him dead illegally. That is why he ended up in a prison
in Rome. Only God’s power kept him alive, not any intellectual mind-set on his
part.
Sin is sin and has been the
problem since Adam and Eve got kicked out of the garden. Sin has had different
manifestations throughout time, but sexual sin, for instance, was a big problem
in Paul’s day, as it is today. Some things never change, so in the sin sense,
we have the same problem as everyone else throughout history. Sin is the root
cause from which wars and civil unrest springs.
That is why Jesus came to
save us from our sin. We have progressed, you could say, as modern society is
somewhat more just and the political system isn’t quite as corrupt as it used
to be. But if you live by “the wisdom of men” instead of the power of God,
well, ultimately your sin makes you a slave. It really doesn’t matter what
century you lived in.
Every day you are alive is
a day to serve the Holy Spirit and glorify God with your life. If you do that,
it really doesn’t matter what century you lived in because God knows how best
to bless that individual.
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