God's Divine, Yet Paradoxical, Rationale
Sunday, we looked at some of the ways God’s rationale can seem paradoxical to us. His ways and His will do not always appear to make common sense or pass our human logic test. Yet God reminds us, “My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways” (Isa. 55:8–9). His ways may seem contrary to our instincts, but they are never contrary to truth. What appears foolish from our limited perspective is often the very wisdom of God.
Consider some of the paradoxical ways God calls us to live:
Save your life by losing it (Matt. 16:25; Mark 8:35; Luke 9:24).
Find your life by giving it away (Matt. 10:39; John 12:25).
Die in order to truly live (John 12:24–25; Gal. 2:20).
Gain by giving up everything for Christ (Matt. 19:21, 27–30).
Die with Christ in order to live with Christ (Rom. 6:4–8; 2 Tim. 2:11).
Become great by becoming a servant (Matt. 20:26–28; Mark 10:43–45).
Become first by becoming last (Matt. 19:30; 20:16).
Be exalted by humbling yourself (Matt. 23:12; Luke 14:11; 1 Pet. 5:5–6).
Receive by giving (Luke 6:38).
Store up treasure by giving it away (Matt. 6:19–20; Luke 12:33).
Become strong by recognizing your weakness and depending on Christ (2 Cor. 12:9–10).
Be sorrowful while still rejoicing (2 Cor. 6:10).
Experience true freedom by becoming Christ’s servant (Rom. 6:17–18, 22; 1 Cor. 9:19).
The world says, “Look out for yourself.” Jesus says, “Deny yourself.” The world says, “Protect yourself from suffering.” Jesus says, “Take up your cross and follow Me” (Mark 8:34).
We see this paradoxical pattern throughout Scripture:
God is sovereign, yet man is responsible.
Men wrote Scripture, yet the Holy Spirit authored it.
Jesus Christ is fully God and fully man.
We work out our salvation, yet God works in us (Phil. 2:12–13).
We have been justified, yet we are still being sanctified.
We are saints, yet we still struggle with sin.
We are in the world, yet not of the world (John 17:14–18).
These truths may stretch our minds, but they do not contradict one another. God is never irrational or contradictory; our understanding is simply limited.
A.W. Tozer captured the paradoxical nature of the Christian life: “A real Christian is an odd number anyway. He feels supreme love for One whom he has never seen, talks familiarly every day to Someone he cannot see, expects to go to heaven on the virtue of Another, empties himself in order to be full, admits he is wrong so he can be declared right, goes down in order to get up, is strongest when he is weakest, richest when he is poorest and happiest when he feels worst. He dies so he can live, forsakes in order to have, gives away so he can keep, sees the invisible, hears the inaudible, and knows that which passes knowledge.” (The Root of the Righteous)
That is the Christian life. We follow a Savior whose kingdom turns the values of this world upside down. So let’s trust God’s wisdom, embrace the way of the cross, and strive to live the countercultural way of Jesus Christ.
Pastor Jeff
Foundational Faith Statement #44: How has God instructed the church to maintain its purity, testimony, and blessing?
God calls His bride to be spotless and separated from sin. To accomplish this, we must each carefully address our sin and lovingly help others to do the same. The Lord has given His church the means of church discipline for accountability and restoration to maintain its purity and testimony (Eph. 5:27; Rev. 2:5; 1 Cor. 5:4–7; Matt. 18:15–18; Gal. 6:1).