What DNA?
There has been a recent fascination with origins. People submit DNA tests to discover where their ancestors came from and what parts of the world their ancestry covers. They want to know where they came from. Some do this for nostalgic reasons, while others do it to help their sense of identity.
All this is determined with a sample of DNA. Do you know what your DNA is? Do you know where you are from?
My birth certificate indicated who my parents were, when I was born, and where I was born. I grew up knowing who my father and mother were, who my grandparents were, and so on. If someone asked me a question about my family origins, I could answer confidently. As a child, I knew how to tell someone where I lived in case of an emergency.
So many things go into making sure a child knows who they are, what family they belong to, and how to navigate situations with accurate information should the need arise.
Question: Does the church make the same efforts in making sure believers understand where they come from? Jesus spoke of origins when teaching what it means to inherit the kingdom of God.
John 3:5 Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not marvel that I said to you, “You must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
When someone is born again, they receive Jesus’ DNA. That is what eternal life truly is. It is not merely a state of mind; it is a genuine life-giving DNA establishment. By grace through faith in Jesus, one becomes a New Creation. That means they become born from above. In other words, they are no longer ordinary in the worldly sense.
I am not of this world any longer. I have been born from above. My confidence in this matter is much more important than many realize it to be. It establishes a different way of looking at life and imagining possibilities and opportunities according to the Spirit as opposed to the natural.
2Corinthians 4:7 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us.
The wealth and riches of His grace invest His DNA into us so that our transformation is completely about God’s work, not our ability to determine and fix ourselves or make ourselves good enough.
1Corinthians 15:47 The first man was of the earth, made of dust; the second Man is the Lord from heaven. 48 As was the man of dust, so also are those who are made of dust; and as is the heavenly Man, so also are those who are heavenly. 49 And as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly Man.
It is about which image you now bear due to a DNA change when you met Jesus. The Law could not perform a DNA change. The Law could not produce the power to bring a person to new birth as a new creation in Christ. When this part of the gospel is not understood, it leads to disinformation and misguided allegiance. Jesus is the source of DNA for anyone who has been born again. The question will never be how good a person thinks they might be. It will always be about what DNA you possess.
