World Christian Fellowship
2 Corinthians 5:17
Definition: DNA stands for deoxyribonucleic acid. It is the hereditary material found in nearly all living organisms. Structure: DNA is composed of two long strands that coil around each other to form a double helix. Each strand has a backbone made of sugar (deoxyribose) and phosphate groups.
Inheritance: DNA is passed from parents to offspring, ensuring traits and characteristics are inherited. Human DNA contains about 3 billion base pairs, and more than 99% of these are identical across all people. DNA is often described as a library of instruction manuals that tells your body how to grow, function, and look.
In short, DNA is the fundamental blueprint of life, shaping everything from eye colour to how cells repair themselves. It is both a chemical structure and a coded language that makes each organism unique. DNA does not change when someone becomes a Christian.
DNA is a physical molecule that carries genetic information. It is determined at conception and remains stable throughout life, except for minor mutations that occur naturally over time. Faith, belief, or spiritual transformation does not alter the chemical structure of DNA.
Becoming a Christian is about a spiritual rebirth, not a biological one.
In John 3:3, Jesus says: “Unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” This refers to a transformation of the heart and spirit, not the body’s genetic code.
2 Corinthians 5:17, “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, behold, the new has come.”
This is about identity, purpose, and relationship with God, not molecular biology.
How Transformation Happens
Biological DNA: Fixed, inherited from parents, encoding physical traits. Spiritual “DNA” (metaphorically): Changed through faith in Christ, shaping values, character, and destiny. The metaphor of “new DNA” to describe how faith rewrites our inner life, but it’s symbolic, not scientific.
Dual
The reality of holding two citizenships at once.
National
Our call to seek the peace of the city/nation where we live.
Alienation
The necessary friction between the Gospel and the world's values.
Dual: The Reality of Two Citizenships
The Christian life is lived in two places at once. We have a passport for an earthly nation, but our spirit belongs to the Kingdom of God.
Philippians 3:20, “But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ.”
Ephesians 2:19, “Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household.”
John 17:14–16, I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 15 I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one. 16 They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Jesus prays for His disciples, saying they are “not of the world, even as I am not of it.”
Romans 13:1, “Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established.”
Matthew 22:21, They said to Him, “Caesar’s.” And He said to them, “Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”
Daniel
Served faithfully under Babylonian kings while remaining loyal to God (Daniel 6). He respected earthly authority but refused to compromise heavenly allegiance. Paul the Apostle. Paul frequently utilized his Roman citizenship to gain a legal hearing or avoid unfair punishment.
Acts 22:25, And as they bound him with thongs, Paul said to the centurion who stood by, “Is it lawful for you to scourge a man who is a Roman, and uncondemned?” Yet he viewed himself primarily as an "ambassador in chains" for Christ.
Ephesians 6:20, for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak. Paul used his earthly status to advance his Heavenly King's agenda.
Ambassadors
Believers act as representatives of heaven (2 Corinthians 5:20), showing love, justice, and mercy in earthly communities. Balance: Christians engage in civic duties (voting, serving, working) while remembering their ultimate loyalty is to Christ’s eternal kingdom.
Hope
- Earthly citizenship is temporary.
- Heavenly citizenship is eternal.
This perspective helps Christians endure hardship and live with purpose. Think of an Ambassador. An ambassador lives in a foreign country, eats the food, pays the taxes, and speaks the language. However, they do not take orders from the local government, but they take orders from their home country.
They are "in"the host nation, but "of"their home nation.
National: The Call to Seek Peace
Being a "citizen of heaven"is not an excuse to be a bad neighbour on earth.
God calls us to be the best citizens of our nations because we represent Him.
Jeremiah 29:7, “Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.” Even in exile, God’s people were commanded to pursue the welfare of their nation.
1 Timothy 2:1-2, Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, 2 for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence.
Matthew 5:9, Blessed are the peacemakers, For they shall be called sons of God. Joseph in Egypt. Even though Joseph was a Hebrew slave in a pagan land, he worked for the "national"good of Egypt. Served Pharaoh faithfully, bringing peace and provision during famine (Genesis 41). He saved the nation from famine, served the government with integrity, and became a blessing to the people around him without compromising his faith in Yahweh.
Esther in Persia
Risked her life to save her people and preserve peace (Esther 4–7). The "Quiet Servants"in our communities. The Christian teacher who goes early to pray over desks, or the business owner who pays fair wages and treats employees with dignity.
They improve the "National"fabric not through political dominance, but through the sacrificial love of Christ. Peace-making in Society: Promoting reconciliation, justice, and compassion in workplaces, schools, and neighbourhoods.
Witness of Integrity: Living ethically and responsibly shows that Christians seek the nation’s good.
Alienation: The Friction of the Gospel
Being set apart
If we are living out our Heavenly DNA, there will inevitably be times when we feel like "aliens." Our values—humility, forgiveness, and purity—will eventually collide with the world’s values of power, revenge, and self- indulgence.
1 Peter 2:11, “Dear friends, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against your soul.”
Colossians 3:1-2, If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. 2 Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.
1 John 2:51-17, Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. 17 And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.
Abraham
Lived as a pilgrim, looking forward to the city with foundations built by God.
Hebrews 11:9–10, By faith he dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise; 10 for he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God.
Moses
Chose to suffer with God’s people rather than enjoy fleeting pleasures of Egypt.
Hebrews 11:24–26, By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, 25 choosing
rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, 26 esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt; for he looked to the reward. Daniel in Babylon.
Daniel was a top-tier national leader, but when the laws of the land required him to pray to the King instead of God, he accepted alienation. He chose the lion’s den over compromise. His "A"(Alienation) was the result of his "D"(Dual Citizenship).
Modern Ethical Stands. A professional who refuses to "fudge the numbers"or participate in office gossip may find themselves socially alienated or passed over for a promotion. That "friction"is proof of their Christian DNA. It is the "sting"
of being a citizen of a different world.
The Story of the Master Architect
There was once a Master Architect named Thomas who lived in a city that had grown cold, corrupt, and crumbling. Thomas was a legal citizen of this city, but he had been trained and commissioned by a Great King from a Far Country—a land known for its perfect beauty and unshakable justice.
1. The Reality of Dual Citizenship (D) Every morning, Thomas put on the clothes of his local city and went to work at the municipal planning office. To his coworkers, he looked like one of them. He paid his local taxes and followed the traffic laws. But in his briefcase, he carried a set of blueprints given to him by the Great King. While everyone else was building for their own vanity, Thomas was building according to the King’s standards. He lived in one city, but his mind and heart were governed by the laws of another. He was a Dual citizen, using his skills in the present world to reflect the glory of the world to come.
2. Seeking the National Peace (N) Because Thomas loved
the King, he became the most diligent worker the city had ever seen. When a bridge collapsed in a poor neighbourhood, Thomas didn't ignore it because "this world isn't my home."Instead, he stayed late to redesign it, ensuring it was safer and stronger than before. He worked for the National good, planting trees he would never sit under and fixing pipes in buildings he would never own. He sought the "peace of the city,"and the people loved the fruit of his labour.
The city became a better place because a citizen of Heaven was working there.
3. The Friction of Alienation (A) However, the tension
eventually surfaced. One day, the City Council ordered
Thomas to design a grand monument that required tearing down the homes of the widows and the poor. They offered him a massive promotion and a seat at the Golden Table. This was the moment of Alienation. Thomas looked at the Council and then at his King’s blueprints, which commanded him to "defend the vulnerable."He politely, but firmly, refused. Suddenly, the neighbours who praised his bridges began to whisper behind his back. The Council stripped him of his title. He became a stranger in his own town. He was "alienated"—not because he was hateful, but because he was faithful.
He realized that he could love the city, but he could never belong to its darkness. The Closing As Thomas walked home that night, he wasn't bitter. He looked at his calloused hands—hands that had served a city that now rejected him—and he smiled. He knew that his true home was not found in the city’s praise, but in the King’s "Well done."
Brothers and sisters, that is your DNA. You hold a Dual passport.
- You work for the National good of those around you.
- And when the world turns against your values, you accept Alienation, knowing that you are just a traveller on your way to a city whose builder and maker is God.
Conclusion
Living the Tension
To have Christian DNA means
1. D: Recognizing we serve a higher Throne.
2. N: Loving our neighbours and nation deeply through
service.
3. A: Accepting that we will never truly "fit in"until we
are home.
The Challenge
Are you trying too hard to belong to the world (losing your A)? Or Are you so "heavenly minded"that you are no earthly good (losing your N)? Let us live as the ambassadors we were created to be.