Hey, I have the exact same problem... It's very frustrating, because no matter what intelligent sorting you use, iOS 7 will end up using the numerotation sort.
I found a way to still have it sorted, it's easy but could be much easier if iOS 7 behaved as iOS 6: all you need to do is sort your playlist in iTunes, as you would do normally, but this time, you then have to right click on the playlist. There should be an option like "copy to play order". What it does is re-index the numbers so that they match your playlist sorting. This way, even your iPhone will have this order. The bummer is it won't do it automatically. So say you wanted to sort by rating, every time you add/change rating, you will have to click on that option again. That s***ks a lot. I have iTunes Match with a lot of music, and it's a pain not to have it sorted.
Anyway, even if it can help, I seriously hope there is a better way to do it.