Season of Preparation Day Seventeen: God’s Kingdom

“God’s kingdom is an upside down kingdom, where the path to greatness is via humble service.” ~Paul David Tripp

God’s kingdom reveals glory in simplicity, greatness in humility, freedom in surrender, and honor in service.

But perhaps the most upside down of all is how God sent his only begotten Son to die in my place. He who knew no sin became sin so that I can be made righteous.

For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. 2 Corinthians 5:21

In a power-hungry world, where rulers and governments tend to take more than they give, that is an upside-down kingdom.

The world mocks God and seeks to defeat his kingdom by reversing his order, replacing it with chaos. That is what we have when we call evil good and good evil.

Jesus, my Lord and Savior, didn’t just teach from a hillside and heal from afar. He also washed feet from the floor.

Yes, God’s kingdom is an upside-down kingdom. Is mine?

Am I more concerned about the manmade value of things than I am the God-ordained value of life?

Do I value the things of this world—wealth, status, popularity—more than I value the things of God—his creation and his children?

Some of the most upside down of all declarations are found in the Beatitudes of Matthew 5:3-11. Blessed are the poor in spirit. Blessed are those who mourn. Blessed are the meek.

The world teaches us to see those things as bad.

But God teaches us they are the way to righteousness. God says, “for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

The world says grab your reward here.

But God says my reward is in heaven and it will be greater than anything the world has to offer.

Where does God want to flip what I consider right thinking and right goals, upending my priorities so that I value his thinking and priorities?

The story of our Messiah’s birth is a story of upending our expectations. The King of kings and Lord of lords (Revelation 19:16) arrived as a baby born to unpretentious parents in an unimportant town in a space meant for animals. Upside-down kingdom.