The Paradox of the Kingdom of God

Paradox ….

• "A statement of proposition that seems self-contradictory or absurd, but in reality expresses a possible truth"

• "Any person, thing or situation exhibiting an apparently contradictory nature"

• We as Christians war against Satan in our mind ( see II Cor. 10:3-6, Rom. 12:2 and Eph. 6:12, 13). Our "battle" is to believe God's word and it's truths, even so they appear to be a paradox.

1) The Paradox of Power ( Matt. 20:20-28 / Mark 9:33-35 )

• Kingdom power comes through service, sacrifice, and humility.
• Worldly or carnal power comes through control, money, fame, and influence.

In the Kingdom of God, those who lead must serve, to literally be a slave to those they lead. Jesus ruled with a towel, showing that only humility and submission can make you a "leader".

2) The Paradox of Status ( Mark 10:24-31)

Two types of status:

• Social (James 2:1-4)
• Economic (James 2:5-7)

In the Kingdom, there is no social classes. Status is obtained by purposely fellowshiping with the poor, the outcasts, and the lowest of "society". The poor in this Kingdom "paradox" are the richest members in God's economy.

3) The Paradox of Freedom ( Galatians 3:19-25 / 5:1,13 )

• The Law…. Rules given on stone, then paper to keep you from sinning [ legal, perfect, but unenforceable due to man's evil heart ]

• Grace……. Freedom to obey laws written on men's hearts, [ legal, perfect, and enforceable because man's heart now wants to do right ]

In the Kingdom of God, we are not "commanded" to obey thousands of laws designed to keep us "straight". We now want to do what's right because the Holy Spirit teaches us truth, and gives us knowledge. Compare this with children. We set rules for them to obey. They don't want to do them, but it keeps them in line until they are old enough to have gained wisdom, learned why laws are important, and then they willingly desire to follow them without external rules. The law was given as a "schoolmaster" (Gal 3:24, KJV) or put in charge to bring us to Christ, where the Holy Spirit would lead and guide us to truth (John 14:26, 15:13). In summary, the Christian walk is one of a paradox. We are asked to follow an invisible leader, lead through slavery, become rich through divesting ourselves of earthly possessions, and follow the laws of God by breaking the written laws. The Christian walk is to not use sensory perception, but faith "seeing him who is invisible"

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