The Paradox Of God's Kingdom Series

Conclusion

Four paradoxes of God’s Kingdom. The kingdom is a concealed light God wants us to make known, it’s a hard to understand truth that we can understand once we invest ourselves into it, it’s a work that we’re involved in but that we cannot bring about with our own efforts, and it’s an insignificant start that will eventually be worldwide.

When we become followers of Jesus Christ, we begin to live under the rule and reign of God. We exchange our earthly lords for the Lordship of Jesus Christ. We exchange the values of our culture for kingdom values, values of humility and selflessness, values of faithfulness and compassion. We exchange priorities like getting as rich as possible or having as much fun as possible for priorities like honoring Jesus in all we do and making decisions that reflect our love for Jesus. In short, we give up our lives--our pursuit of success, our passion for pleasure, our addiction to comfort, our quest for acceptance by other people. We deny ourselves to follow Jesus, to be faithful to him, wherever he leads, whatever the cost. That’s what five people will be pledging at our baptism this weekend, to follow Jesus wherever he leads. But the final paradox is that in giving up our lives for Jesus, we find our lives, by dying to ourselves we find ourselves. Under the rule and reign of God we find a sense of meaning and fulfillment, an acceptance far beyond mere human acceptance, a love that’s indestructible, and a reason to live that infuses new meaning into our jobs, our families, our communities.

That’s what happens when Jesus rules and reigns in our lives.