The Beautiful Irony of Our Faith

It has been said that ours is an “Upside-Down Kingdom,” where we serve a God who came to Earth as a baby, a King who bore a crown of thorns, a Kingdom where the first are last, and the last are first.

Such irony is this, our faith.

At Bible study Monday night, our teacher, Beth Moore, pointed out this Truth during a video segment. Beth noted that some of the greatest moments of our faith are built on reversals, where a sudden turn of events changes everything. Where the unexpected event turns everything … upside down.

I was awestruck by her statement, and went on a treasure hunt through my Bible, turning up beautiful ironies on which our faith is built. Check these out:

Jesus, who had no sin, became sin for us.

The stone the builders rejected became the cornerstone of our faith.

Jesus was rich, yet for our sake he became poor, so that through his poverty, we would be rich.

His power is made perfect in our weakness.

Are you with me? Here’s more:

We deserve justice. We receive grace.

Even in our sufferings, we find joy.

He gives strength to the weary, yet humbles the proud.

The last shall be first. The first shall be last.

Beautiful irony.

We receive beauty from ashes,

the oil of gladness, instead of mourning,

a garment of praise, instead of despair.

Our faith draws down from people like these: common, ordinary fishermen, rather than earthly rulers, and a man like Paul, who traded seats from persecutor to persecuted.

We have been crucified with Christ, yet we live.

But it is not we who live; it is Christ who lives within us.

We don’t live to die. We die, so we might live.

Our victory comes not in battle, but in complete surrender.

God’s Word is a gold-mine. Man cannot make this stuff up. In the words of the late songwriter Rich Mullins, I share a final irony:

“I did not make it, no it is making me. It is the very truth of God, and not the invention of any man.”