In Sunday’s sermon (9/22), we focused on James chapters three and four where James differentiates between “heavenly wisdom” and “earthly wisdom.” According to James, we have a choice: to live in submission to one kind of wisdom or the other. Often, we find ourselves in tension with both. We desire to live in submission to God but face constant temptation to do our own thing. In the sermon, our focus was that the source of our wisdom is God and the Holy Spirit and that the goal of our wisdom is humility. We said that humility is “to stand tall in Christ Jesus while thinking low.” 

As we consider what it means to live humbly (see Micah 6:8), we reflect on putting on the character and nature of Christ. We are made right by his shed blood (Romans 5:8-9). This is to say that when we become a Christian, we are made new (2 Cor. 5:17)! As Paul writes, we “put on Christ” or “clothe ourselves with Christ” (Romans 13:14). What does this look like for us? Let me share what I discovered in my study last week that might give a clue . . .  

Our “clue” for Christ-honoring humility can be expressed in the Chinese character for “righteousness,” which is 义 (simplified) or 義 (traditional).  

It is an ideogram that represents the concept of moral rightness, justice, or righteousness. Its structure is profound through the symbolism of its composition. It is amazing how we can connect it theologically! 

The Chinese character is composed of two separate characters — one, 羊 (yáng) – standing for a “sheep” or “lamb,” the other, 我 (wǒ), for “I or me.” When “sheep” is placed directly above “me,” a new character — 義 “righteousness” is formed. This is a helpful picture of the grace of God.  

By virtue of his sacrifice, he has received (us) on the ground of faith, and we have become righteous in his sight (Ephesians 2:8-9). 

What does this mean for us? In Scripture, Jesus Christ is referred to as the “Lamb of God” (John 1:29), who was sacrificed for the sins of humanity. Just as the sheep in the Chinese character is placed over the self (我), Christians are called to place Christ, the Lamb of God, over their own lives.  

This act of submission reflects a spiritual covering where one exchanges their own sinfulness for Christ’s righteousness through faith. If the goal of the Christian life is to imitate Jesus and life humbly, then we must “put on Christ” daily (Galatians 3:27). We humbly place our identity, desires, and will under Christ’s.  

This involves surrendering personal pride and self-reliance (earthly wisdom) and recognizing that true righteousness comes from God (wisdom from above).  

This wisdom is imparted by Christ’s finished work on the cross, not by human effort. In this sense, the Chinese character’s construction serves as a vivid reminder of how we are to live in a state of submission to Christ’s authority and sacrificial love. 

May we “put on Christ” and, by his grace, seek to imitate him in a world that is hungry for justice, kindness and humility. May we become the kind of neighbor we’d like to have. 

In Christ’s love,