Modern medicine has discovered that inside every person, there resides trillions of molecules known as DNA. No, I did not sleep at a Holiday Inn Express, but smart people tell us these microscopic DNA thingies are an important part of you and me. Your unique genetic code is what makes YOU a one-of-a-kind YOU!! It’s your DNA that decides whether your hair is curly or straight or missing in action. It determines whether you are supersized like Goliath or are vertically challenged like Zacchaeus.

Of course, we don’t need to be convinced that DNA exists, because we recognize it every time a baby is born. When you see a newborn, what is the first thing you do? You study their profile, trying to figure out: WHO does she (or he) ‘take after’? And we say: “Oh, look at those brown eyes and that big nose! He’s the spitting image of his Grandpa!!” (“Grandpa” is always the correct answer)!

In John 17:22-23, Jesus said something about you that should bless your socks off! Other than the assurance of salvation and Heaven, this has to be the greatest promise He ever made: “I HAVE GIVEN THEM THE GLORY THAT YOU GAVE ME!”

Pause for a moment and let Jesus’s amazing words soak in. What a promise! What a gift! On the day you were “born again” (saved), Jesus infused you with His DNA! I’m talking about the empowering presence of God’s Spirit that recreates you into a totally new person!

Peter expressed this on Pentecost Sunday when he proclaimed: “Repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive [God’s Glorious DNA] the Gift of the Holy Spirit. This promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off — for all whom the Lord our God will call.” (Acts 2:38-39)

When God’s Spirit moves into your heart, that makes you “God’s Temple.” (1 Corinthians 3:16) This supernatural invasion is so glorious that it can’t be hidden from others, even if you try. In John 17, Jesus specified two ways that God’s glory (inside of you) affects others.

1-God’s glory velcroes you to other believers.

“I in them and you in me — so that they may be brought to complete unity.” (John 17:23a)

True unity is not something you achieve. Rather it’s a state of being that exists between people who are “full of God”! We used to sing a song that expressed that idea. “Blest be the tie that binds, our hearts in Christian Love; The fellowship of kindred minds is like to that above.”

Translated: The tie that binds us to each other is Jesus. When you have His glory in you and you meet a stranger who also has that glory, the two of you almost instantly will attract and attach. Our mutual affection for God produces peace and joy between us. And that’s something our world desperately needs.

We live in a time that is more fractured than ever before. People are divided based on age, country, culture, social rank, opinions, race, politics and religion, among other things. That divisive isolation is why people are lonely, full of worries and fear and frustration. It’s why our world is morally dizzier than a termite in a YoYo.

But that is not true of us Christians, is it? On the day He saved us, Jesus stabilized us with His Holy presence. And He adopted us into His divine family (His Church), which means we never again are alone, anywhere, at any time. It means we have brothers and sisters who care since we are washed-in-the-blood relatives.

2-Jesus’s glorious presence also turns us into a magnet to unbelievers.

“Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.” (John 17:23b)

If you discovered a drug that instantly neutralized cancer and brought healing, what would you do? I guarantee you would be like a firecracker on the 4th of July, exploding with that joyous information. In fact, before you told others your good news, they would be drawn to you because your body language would tip them off that something “glorious” was going on in you.

Now here’s the big idea: God cares about every person on planet Earth — the depraved, the downtrodden, the disillusioned, the dismayed and depressed. His greatest desire is for everyone to experience the fullness of His love. So He makes you and me His “love magnets.” God’s priceless gift of Jesus is for the whole world — not simply for a select elite few.

So here’s our mandate: We are not the cure, but we do know the remedy of what ails our world. We have the Lord’s glory bubbling inside of us like a bottle of Coke that you’ve shaken before opening! That’s true today and every day, when we do our part. When was the last time some needy friend was drawn to Jesus by your magnet?