God and Nature Winter 2022
Meditations from a Molecular Biologist |
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By Angie Cornwell
I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. (Romans 12: 1-2, NKJV)
The first phrase that strikes me in this passage is “present your bodies a living sacrifice” because in my line of work, we use the term “sacrifice” to refer to the taking of lives of laboratory animals for the purposes of experimental research. More than a decade ago, this aspect of research almost prevented me from pursuing a Ph.D. in biology because I love and have always loved animals. When I realized that I would very likely be required to experiment on animals, I was mortified. Yet as I reflected on the content in all my textbooks, I realized that much of what we know today in biology relies on the foundation of observations from the use of experimental animals.
I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. (Romans 12: 1-2, NKJV)
The first phrase that strikes me in this passage is “present your bodies a living sacrifice” because in my line of work, we use the term “sacrifice” to refer to the taking of lives of laboratory animals for the purposes of experimental research. More than a decade ago, this aspect of research almost prevented me from pursuing a Ph.D. in biology because I love and have always loved animals. When I realized that I would very likely be required to experiment on animals, I was mortified. Yet as I reflected on the content in all my textbooks, I realized that much of what we know today in biology relies on the foundation of observations from the use of experimental animals.
"We are empowered by His DNA to think less of ourselves and more of the needs of others." |
These animals do not choose to participate in our experiments. Their lives are sacrificed for the greater good of humanity, yet they themselves have no say in their participation. They are at our mercy. They are living sacrifices, born and bred for the purpose of use in animal research. Some of my former colleagues seemed callous regarding the use of these animals. I myself am humbled by the sacrifice that these animals make.
When I reflect upon Paul’s urging that we should present our bodies as a living sacrifice, I am struck by just how great a call that is. Do we understand the meaning of true sacrifice? We tend to get aggravated when we are inconvenienced even in the slightest way, such as by having to let one person merge into the lane in front of us. Can we even begin to understand the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ on the cross for our sins?
The second phrase that strikes me about this passage is “do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” In my line of work, we employ the term “transformation” to denote the process by which foreign DNA is inserted into eukaryotic cells. This foreign DNA can completely change or transform the phenotype or the outward appearance of a cell. We have the technology to take genes out of completely unrelated living organisms, such as a green fluorescent protein from the jellyfish Aequorea victoria, and insert DNA sequences into the cells of animals like mice. The murine cells then gain the capability to express green fluorescent protein and will glow in the dark the way jellyfish living in deep water do. We can use this fluorescence signal as a “reporter” to tell us what is going on at the molecular level inside of a cell.
The molecular biologist’s idea of transformation is a powerful one, but spiritual transformation is even greater. We were originally made in God’s image, but we became enslaved to sin. Sin is like a tumor, diverting our life-giving blood capillary supply to feed its own increasing needs and desires. Just as the cancerous cells in the tumor take on a life of their own and can eventually destroy the physical body, sin destroys spiritual health. The cancerous tumor cuts off circulation to healthy tissue and starves it of nutrients. Sin blocks us from receiving the promise God intended for us, to live with Him in eternity.
Sin in our world tells us to seek revenge when we have been hurt. Our sinful natures tell us that if someone insults us, we should have that perfect retort. The world tells us that if someone abuses our trust, we should never, ever trust him or her again. The world tells us to never forgive anyone who has mistreated us. But Jesus willingly sacrificed Himself for our sake and forgave those who crucified Him.
We need to transform ourselves with “God DNA,” by fully surrendering to His will for our lives and by seeking to live in a Christ-like manner. This Holy DNA is foreign to our human DNA and our sinful natures. But transformation with God DNA empowers us to go far beyond what we could ever imagine. As Peter tells us in 2 Peter 1:5-7, “…add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love” (NKJV). God transformation allows us to forgive and to love each other beyond human capability. God transformation helps us recognize the widows and orphans in our communities and to disadvantage ourselves to help them in the same way that the good Samaritan went out of his way to care for a complete stranger on the road.
When the world tells us that it feels good to get revenge on those who have hurt us, grab as much of our world’s finite resources as we can, and crush those who are blocking our way to success, we need an infusion of God DNA to lead us to godliness, brotherly kindness, and love. Being transformed by God DNA gives us the ability to let go of our sinful selves, to give up control, and to let ourselves become living sacrifices for His purposes.
From a scientist’s point of view, I am also struck by Paul’s use of the word “prove” in the passage from Romans: “…that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” When applying the scientific method, we aren’t able to prove anything; we merely support or reject our hypotheses. We make predictions, collect empirical evidence, attempt to eliminate biases, remain as objective as possible, and try to replicate our experimental results to increase our confidence in them. We cannot prove our hypotheses to be true, but we can make repeated observations and collect results.
Biblically speaking, the proof of the transformative power of God DNA is in the spiritual fruit. Transformation can give us the strength to love our enemies, do good to those who hate us, bless those who curse us, and pray for those who mistreat us. By our own strength, we can never achieve this level of forgiveness, this level of grace. His foreign DNA awakens us to the realization that we are indebted to Him for the sacrifice of His life on the cross for our sin! How can we possibly withhold forgiveness of others when we ourselves are so indebted to Him for his grace, mercy, and forgiveness of our sin?
When we are transformed by God’s grace, we begin to understand God’s heart of love and compassion for His creation. We are empowered by His DNA to think less of ourselves and more of the needs of others. When we are conformed to the world, we take care of ourselves first, and if there is extra, we might consider taking care of some of the needs of others. Being transformed by God DNA moves us from selfishness to selflessness, from greediness to godliness, from spiritual blindness to brotherly kindness. This kind of spiritual fruit can be seen by others, and it can serve as a “reporter” to others of the transformative power of Christ in our lives. I pray that I could be this kind of living sacrifice, transformed and renewed, and that my story would be a testimony of a life fully surrendered to His perfect will.
Angie Cornwell has been teaching as an Assistant Professor of Biology at Gordon College since 2014. She teaches microbiology, molecular biology, medical biotechnology, animal biology, animal physiology, and senior seminar. She serves as the faculty mentor for the student chapter of the ASA as well as for Sigma Xi-The Scientific Honor Society. She is an active member of the Danvers Church of the Nazarene in Danvers, MA, and serves on the Board as well as the worship team.
When I reflect upon Paul’s urging that we should present our bodies as a living sacrifice, I am struck by just how great a call that is. Do we understand the meaning of true sacrifice? We tend to get aggravated when we are inconvenienced even in the slightest way, such as by having to let one person merge into the lane in front of us. Can we even begin to understand the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ on the cross for our sins?
The second phrase that strikes me about this passage is “do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” In my line of work, we employ the term “transformation” to denote the process by which foreign DNA is inserted into eukaryotic cells. This foreign DNA can completely change or transform the phenotype or the outward appearance of a cell. We have the technology to take genes out of completely unrelated living organisms, such as a green fluorescent protein from the jellyfish Aequorea victoria, and insert DNA sequences into the cells of animals like mice. The murine cells then gain the capability to express green fluorescent protein and will glow in the dark the way jellyfish living in deep water do. We can use this fluorescence signal as a “reporter” to tell us what is going on at the molecular level inside of a cell.
The molecular biologist’s idea of transformation is a powerful one, but spiritual transformation is even greater. We were originally made in God’s image, but we became enslaved to sin. Sin is like a tumor, diverting our life-giving blood capillary supply to feed its own increasing needs and desires. Just as the cancerous cells in the tumor take on a life of their own and can eventually destroy the physical body, sin destroys spiritual health. The cancerous tumor cuts off circulation to healthy tissue and starves it of nutrients. Sin blocks us from receiving the promise God intended for us, to live with Him in eternity.
Sin in our world tells us to seek revenge when we have been hurt. Our sinful natures tell us that if someone insults us, we should have that perfect retort. The world tells us that if someone abuses our trust, we should never, ever trust him or her again. The world tells us to never forgive anyone who has mistreated us. But Jesus willingly sacrificed Himself for our sake and forgave those who crucified Him.
We need to transform ourselves with “God DNA,” by fully surrendering to His will for our lives and by seeking to live in a Christ-like manner. This Holy DNA is foreign to our human DNA and our sinful natures. But transformation with God DNA empowers us to go far beyond what we could ever imagine. As Peter tells us in 2 Peter 1:5-7, “…add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love” (NKJV). God transformation allows us to forgive and to love each other beyond human capability. God transformation helps us recognize the widows and orphans in our communities and to disadvantage ourselves to help them in the same way that the good Samaritan went out of his way to care for a complete stranger on the road.
When the world tells us that it feels good to get revenge on those who have hurt us, grab as much of our world’s finite resources as we can, and crush those who are blocking our way to success, we need an infusion of God DNA to lead us to godliness, brotherly kindness, and love. Being transformed by God DNA gives us the ability to let go of our sinful selves, to give up control, and to let ourselves become living sacrifices for His purposes.
From a scientist’s point of view, I am also struck by Paul’s use of the word “prove” in the passage from Romans: “…that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” When applying the scientific method, we aren’t able to prove anything; we merely support or reject our hypotheses. We make predictions, collect empirical evidence, attempt to eliminate biases, remain as objective as possible, and try to replicate our experimental results to increase our confidence in them. We cannot prove our hypotheses to be true, but we can make repeated observations and collect results.
Biblically speaking, the proof of the transformative power of God DNA is in the spiritual fruit. Transformation can give us the strength to love our enemies, do good to those who hate us, bless those who curse us, and pray for those who mistreat us. By our own strength, we can never achieve this level of forgiveness, this level of grace. His foreign DNA awakens us to the realization that we are indebted to Him for the sacrifice of His life on the cross for our sin! How can we possibly withhold forgiveness of others when we ourselves are so indebted to Him for his grace, mercy, and forgiveness of our sin?
When we are transformed by God’s grace, we begin to understand God’s heart of love and compassion for His creation. We are empowered by His DNA to think less of ourselves and more of the needs of others. When we are conformed to the world, we take care of ourselves first, and if there is extra, we might consider taking care of some of the needs of others. Being transformed by God DNA moves us from selfishness to selflessness, from greediness to godliness, from spiritual blindness to brotherly kindness. This kind of spiritual fruit can be seen by others, and it can serve as a “reporter” to others of the transformative power of Christ in our lives. I pray that I could be this kind of living sacrifice, transformed and renewed, and that my story would be a testimony of a life fully surrendered to His perfect will.
Angie Cornwell has been teaching as an Assistant Professor of Biology at Gordon College since 2014. She teaches microbiology, molecular biology, medical biotechnology, animal biology, animal physiology, and senior seminar. She serves as the faculty mentor for the student chapter of the ASA as well as for Sigma Xi-The Scientific Honor Society. She is an active member of the Danvers Church of the Nazarene in Danvers, MA, and serves on the Board as well as the worship team.