You Have Divinity in Your DNA

Text Michele

You have divinity in your DNA, and that’s no April Fool’s joke! Yet most Christians live unaware of this mind-blowing reality. Today, we dive into a moment when Paul walked into a church and was shocked to find... mere humans. He rebuked the Corinthians, not for being bad, but for being merely human when they carried God’s divine nature. The gospel isn’t a behavior management program; it’s a radical exchange, the old for the new. It’s a co-crucifixion and a co-resurrection. Sin isn’t about bad behavior but about mistaken identity. You’re not a sinner. You’re a saint infused with God’s divine nature. Walking in this truth isn’t prideful—it glorifies the One who gave you his very own spirit. So today, you can boldly declare: I have divinity in my DNA!

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Today’s Kus Word is spiritual growth with a touch of snark! Join author and spiritual formation prof, Michele Kus, as she serves up short, powerful teachings, immersive meditations, bold declarations, and f(reedom)-bombs to fuel your faith and get you laughing. #TodaysKusWord

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Episode Transcript

Michele (00:00):
It's April Fool's Day and this is Today's Kus Word.
Welcome to Today's Kus Word,where we try to bore you silly
with the most ridiculousteachings from the Bible that
aren't even true.
You definitely don't want tolisten to this podcast or share
it with a friend, because you'vereally got better things to do

(00:23):
with your time.
April Fools! Hey there, newcreation.
Well, happy April Fool's Day.
I had way too much fun makingthat intro, and I was talking to
my friend, Megan at church acouple weeks ago and she was

(00:43):
telling me about a particularlyrough day that she was having at
work.
And so Megan told me that shestarted to think to herself,
what are some good Kus wordsthat I can say right now that
would really help in thissituation?
Yeah, that's what we want.
We want you saying those goodKus words, those meditations,

(01:06):
those declarations, thoseencouraging words, those truths
from scripture that you can pullout of your back pocket anytime
you need them.
So that's why we practicesaying them during the show, and
you do practice saying themduring the show, right?
Because that's your job.

(01:27):
Okay, now that we got that outof the way, let's continue on
our identity series that westarted, that we launched into
yesterday, where we talked aboutyou being a new creation in
Christ.
And I want to continue in thatseries today and ask you this,
what if I told you that Paul theapostle walked into the church

(01:49):
in Corinth and he was shocked tofind human beings?
I know it sounds like an AprilFool's joke, but it's real.
Turn over to 1 Corinthians,chapter 3, starting in verse 1.
I'm going to read it from theESV.
But I, brothers, could notaddress you as spiritual people,

(02:13):
but as people of the flesh, asinfants in Christ.
I fed you with milk, not solidfood, for you were not ready for
it and even now you are not yetready, for you are still of the
flesh.
For while there is jealousy andstrife among you, are you not

(02:34):
of the flesh and behaving onlyin a human way?
For when one says I follow Paul, and another I follow Apollos,

(02:54):
are you not being merely human?
Ouch! Okay, imagine walkinginto a church today and saying
y'all are acting like humans andthat is a problem.
That is essentially what Paulis saying to the Corinthian
church.
He expected these believers tobe so much more than who they

(03:15):
were being.
That was his rebuke.
He was frustrated not becausethey weren't being nice people.
He was frustrated because theyweren't being divine.
The gospel is not a behaviormanagement program or, as Dallas

(03:41):
Willard would say, a sinmanagement program.
The gospel is an exchange.
You exchange your old, sinfulhuman nature for Jesus's perfect
, divine nature.

(04:02):
Yep, I don't know if you'veever heard that before, but it's
true.
Paul expected to walk into aroom full of little Christs.
That's what Christian means,little Christs but instead he

(04:22):
found people who said I followPaul, I follow Apollos and
Paul's like what are we pickingmiddle school dodgeball teams?
What is this?
SoThe gospel is not just an
upgrade to your sinful nature,your morality.

(04:43):
The gospel is a transformationof your nature.
This is why it's called goodnews.
Your old, sinful human natureis, say it with me, dead.
Galatians 2:20, Paul said Ihave been crucified with Christ

(05:11):
and I no longer live.
That means he dead, but Christlives in me.
The old you is dead.
The old self, with itsinsecurities and sin and guilt
and shame, is dead, co-crucifiedwith Christ.

(05:34):
And then, if you look at Romans6, verse 4, it says this we
have been co-resurrected withhim so that we could be
empowered to walk in thefreshness of new life.
You and I have been graftedinto Christ.
We carry the DNA of divinity.

(05:56):
So when Paul walked into thatchurch in Corinth he expected to
see divinity on display.
Instead, he saw regular, normalhuman beings doing regular,
normal human things.
Now is this just a behaviorproblem?

(06:17):
I don't think so.
So in our Western evangelicalchurch mindset we've been taught
that sin is all about what wedo.
It's our transgressions, it'sour rule breaking, it's our bad
behavior.
But in the New Testament theword for sin is hamartia.

(06:42):
This is a compound word.
It's actually two Greek wordsha, which means without, and
morphe, which means form.
Sin literally means withoutform or distorted in form.

(07:02):
So sin is not about what you do.
Sin is about who you believeyou are.
Sin at its core is an identityproblem, not a behavior problem.
But if you have an identitythat's wrong, wrong behavior is

(07:28):
going to naturally flow fromthat.
So the root issue is ouridentity, not our behavior.
If you believe that you are justa sinner saved by grace, you
are going to act like just asinner saved by grace.
I know that is a sacred cowphrase for a lot of people in

(07:51):
the church, but for me it islike, as one of my friends said,
nails on a chalkboard.
You are not a sinner.
You are not a sinner.
You have a divine nature.
You have divinity in your DNA,and I wish we heard this more in

(08:18):
church.
Jesus did not come, die on across and be resurrected to make
you a nice person.
He did not come to make yougood.
He came to kill you, to killthe old sinful nature and to

(08:42):
restore to you the divine naturehis divine nature that God
always intended for you to have.
The gospel is not about beinggood, it's about being like God.
And when Paul walked into thatCorinthian church, he expected

(09:02):
to see divine beings walking inthe newness of life, knowing who
they were in Christ, butinstead he saw mere humans
acting the way mere humans act.
You have been co-crucified andco-resurrected with Christ.

(09:26):
The old you is dead and the newyou has divinity in your DNA,
and we always talk about wantingto glorify God with our lives.
Do you want to know one of thebest ways to do that?

(09:48):
One of the best ways to glorifyGod with your life is to walk
in the truth of who you are.
This is what Jesus came anddied to give you, to give you
himself.
So here's Today's Kus Word foryou, Megan, and the rest of you.

(10:09):
I have divinity in my DNA.
I have divinity in my DNA, andthat is no joke.
Thanks for joining me today onthis April Fool's Day, and if

(10:29):
you enjoyed this episode, pleaseshare it with a friend who
still thinks that they are asinner.
And remember you can send me atext message.
Just click the link down in theshow notes that says Text
Michele, and have a wonderfulday.
I will see you again tomorrow.