"PARADOX OF LIFE." "Paradox of Life," examines how believers in Christ have paid the ultimate price through persecution or death, beginning from the early disciples. The title of the book is framed from the statement of Jesus from Matthew 10:39, "He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for my sake will find it." This statement seems like a paradox in the sense that it contains some elements of self-contradiction, but when examined in its entirety, there are some truths in it.
Paradoxes are statements or phrases which are often contrary to what is commonly believed, and they play an important role in our understanding of literature as we engage in everyday life. Sometimes paradox statements are used as brain teasers or to assess the level of thinking in each interactive situation as we can see between Jesus and His disciples or between him and the crowd.
Some of these paradoxical statements in the Bible not only challenge our thinking but also provides us with insights, and deeper understanding of the sovereignty of God, as we cannot understand everything about Him. "For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways," says the LORD" (Isaiah 55:8).
From a practical viewpoint, it is not an exaggeration to assert that life is like a box of paradoxes about which so many people are bothered and possibly tired of searching for explanations which this work supplies in its pages. For example, apostle Paul gave nine-fold paradoxes in his letter to the Corinthian church: "By honor and dishonor, by evil report and good report; as deceivers, and yet true; as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and behold we live; as chastened, and yet not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things" (2 Corinthians 6:8-10).