Principles to Kingdom Greatness

came not be served, but to serve, and gives His life a ransom for many” (v.28). The Lord outlined the key principles to kingdom greatness in this verse.

I.Q: What are these key principles to kingdom greatness?

A. KINGDOM GREATNESS REQUIRES HUMILITY.

1. Worldly greatness is about popularity; kingdom greatness is about humility. We are in a world that everyone wanted to be known believing that popularity is the key to greatness. But in God’s kingdom, the key principle to greatness is humility.
2. Our key verse says, “For the Son of Man came”.
He came –just another simple statement. But you know, herein lies the epitome of humility. The Lord of glory deigned himself by coming to flesh. And he must have given up something. He never gave up being God, but he gave up many rights –the right to comfort, acceptance, the full exercise of His deity, to call his angels and destroy his enemies, the right to save himself from the hands of his executioners, to leave men alone in their wickedness, and the right to back out of His redemptive plan. What would have happened if Jesus upheld those rights to himself? It would be devastation to us! He gave up those rights for our salvation. That was His primary concern. And that’s what humility is. It is “the willingness to giving up some of your own rights” for the right cause. And when we say “right cause” we mean the salvation of men and the kingdom of God. Jesus humbled himself for that cause. So the question then is: “Is the salvation of men and the advancement of God’s kingdom our primary concern?” Have we given up some of our own rights because of the Gospel of Jesus? Making the Gospel your primary concern makes you great in God’s kingdom. This is the reason why we should aggressively support the work of Gospel-proclamation.

3. In the book of John, Jesus said: “I have come to do My Father’s will.” Jesus came to do God’s will. Humility is about obeying God’s will.
Paul testified that Jesus “humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death” (Phil.2:8). Jesus knows the will of the Father and does it in full obedience and submissiveness. Humility has to do with knowing and doing God’s will. Humility is obeying God. Moses is said to be the greatest leader of God’s people in the Old Testament, but it’s not because he was outspoken and had strong personality, but because he listened to and obeyed the voice of God. As I said in the introduction of this message: we missed many growth opportunities to become great in God’s kingdom because we ignored God’s voice, we did not listen to His promptings and failed to follow his leading.
I think it’s now time to start stepping upward to becoming great in God’s kingdom. Let’s train ourselves to listen God and obey His voice.

B. KINGDOM GREATNESS FOCUSES ON SERVING.

1. Worldly greatness is about who rules; kingdom greatness is about who serves. We are in a world where greatness is measured by the extent of a person’s influence and power, control and command. And we like the idea that we are served and our needs being attended to.
2. But in God’s kingdom, to become great, one must learn and start to serve others. Jesus said: “Whoever wants to be great, he must serve.” True greatness is not how many people serve you, but how many people do you serve.
3. Again, let’s quote our key verse (v.28) it says, “For the Son of Man did not come