Units of inheritance
DNA…is defined as DeoxyriboNucleicAcid. Do you know any more than you did? It is a molecule that encodes the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of all living organisms and many viruses. Genetics is the study of genes, genetic variation, and heredity in living organisms. It is generally considered a field of biology, but intersects frequently with many other life sciences and is strongly linked with the study of information systems. My unscientific definition is—‘who you are’ and ‘why you are who you are’.
The father of genetics is Gregor Mendel, a late 19th century scientist and Augustinian friar. Mendel studied ‘trait inheritance’, patterns in the way traits are handed down from parents to offspring. He observed that organisms (pea plants) inherit traits by way of discrete ‘units of inheritance’. This term, still used today, is a somewhat ambiguous definition of what is referred to as a gene.
God’s design
This invaded my thoughts as I was studying Genesis 2 and 3 this week. Dads, your DNA has been impacted by Adam; and mom, you have Eve’s. When God created them, he stated; “let us make man in our own image”. His design was to be in the likeness of the trinity. God did so and “breathed into Adam’s nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.” He declared everything they had made “very good”. I am believing their original ‘genes’ were absolutely perfect. Had the fall not happened soon thereafter, imagine the glorious state of all creation today.
But Genesis 3 tells us sin through disobedience entered into our DNA and wreaked havoc. It actually brought death, separation from the One who created us, God. Today, we suffer from the original sin and ours to boot. Don’t we see it everywhere? Pain, suffering, conflicts, shame, birth and health issues, even physical death! This genetic inheritance is in all of us. Left in this state, there is very little hope. Medical science can alter and cure many things that affect us, but the one it cannot is our spiritual DNA. The first Adam has brought us terminable physical life but nothing redemptive or eternal.
Hopelessness versus hope! God in his infinite mercy has provided a solution to this deadly DNA in all of us. It is not a medical or scientific cure; it’s a personal cure! And it will alter your spiritual DNA forever, beginning with the first infusion. It’s called—REDEMPTION! It’s the only cure and it comes through the ancestral bloodline of Jesus. His shed blood on Calvary’s cross reversed our DNA forever, those who believe.
Be eternally focused
Dads, your children cannot rely on your DNA, as you are Adam’s descendant; and not your wife’s either. She’s got the same. If in fact you are the ‘greatest dad on earth’ according to your kids and yet you are not discipling them for the gospel of Jesus Christ, what have you done for them eternally? A house, car, their own credit card, smartphone, iPad, best education, food on the table, church every Sunday, vacations each year—all good things unto themselves for this temporal life, but have they received eternal life? Have you ever shared the simple gospel message with them, even once? If so, I applaud you. If not, don’t you think it is about time to do just that?
May I make it as simple as possible? Sit down with them, pray for God to guide the time, open the Bible, and begin to read or have them read these verses in this order. Briefly discuss the main point in each: Romans 3.23; Romans 6.23; Romans 5.8; Ephesians 2.8,9; John 5.24 and finally Revelation 3.20. Now that wasn’t hard, was it? Ask them if they understood and would they wish to pray to receive Christ as their Savior. The gospel by which anyone is saved is this. Ten little but equally profound words! “Christ died for our sins and rose from the dead.” (1 Corinthians 15.1-5.) Jesus said, as recorded in John 1.12; “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name.”
When they pray to receive him, their DNA changes (once and for all) from Adam’s to Christ’s. And his is eternal! Can you hear the angels rejoicing? Well, listen to what Jesus says about that. “Likewise, I say to you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents” (Lk. 15.10). Dads, do it now; tomorrow is not guaranteed.
