DNA

Paul says in Ephesians 3:16-19, "I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God." 
Paul says a similar thing in Colossians 2:6-7, "So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness."


Paul uses this word "rooted" that has a pretty significant meaning. To be rooted in Christ means to be rooted back to the origins of Christ...the foundation of Him. It means to be established, firm, and fixed in Christ. In order for the roots to be firm and established, the plant must be nourished. Just like a muscle needs to be worked out in order to grow. The same goes for our faith; we must feed ourselves the Word daily and work out our faith in order to grow spiritually. 


When we are born again and believe in Christ, we share in His DNA. My man Reggi talks about this illustration of a lamb that I found very interesting. Sometimes, a sheep will die while giving birth. In order for the lamb to survive it must first feed from the mother sheep. But a sheep will know if the lamb is hers or not based off the smell and will not feed a lamb unless it is her own. The farmer will then shave some of the hair off the mother sheep and tie the necklace of fur around the lamb that is not hers. When the lamb comes to feed, the mother allows the lamb because she can not tell the difference that it was not hers. Eventually after time, the lamb drinks from her long enough to have the DNA in her and the neckless of fur is removed. The sheep can not tell the difference and takes the lamb in as her own. When we are born again and believe in the true Gospel of Jesus Christ we create a new bond. Our dependence on the Father creates DNA so strong that He can no longer distinguish us from His own Son. We are co-heirs with Christ (Romans 8:17, Galatians 4). We are children of God who have the same access to our Father. We have the same power that every person in the Old Testament carried. We have the same rights. Unfortunately, we don't believe in the same way. We don't seek our Father the same way. We don't ask for miracles the same way. We don't act in a matter that reflects Christ in our day to day lives. We need to just go back to the roots, plant our feet in the Word of God, and live a life that honors our Father in Heaven.