Cloning Joy – Don’t We Wish?! by Kim Reisman

Scripture Focus:

When you produce much fruit, you are my true disciples. This brings great glory to my Father. I have loved you even as the Father has loved me. Abide in my love. When you obey my commandments, you abide in my love, just as I obey my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow!

John 15:8-11 (NLT)

Though it doesn’t seem like a big deal now, back in 1997 the world was shocked to hear that Scottish cell biologists, Dr. Ian Wilmut and Dr. Keith Campbell had created the first clone of an adult mammal – a sheep which they named Dolly.

We’ve come a long way since then, but deep questions still linger. What does it actually mean to clone a living being? What are the possibilities for human cloning? What are the moral, ethical, and spiritual implications? In the age of artificial intelligence, the idea of cloning a human may seem passe, but it still remains fascinating. In the midst of debate about the strangely blurred lines created by AI, what would it mean to potentially replicate an actual adult human being?

As interesting as the question of cloning may be, and as far as we’ve come in the years since 1997, there are certain things that just can’t be cloned. Joy is one of them. It’s the unique experience of each person. Yet, no matter who we are and where we are, joy can be ours. It’s the promise of Jesus.

It’s not a matter of cloning, but of abiding – that is, abiding in Christ. Our passage for this week comes from the fifteenth chapter of John. That chapter begins with Jesus’ revealing metaphor of the vine and the branches. Jesus tells us who God is and who he is in relation to God: “I am the true vine and my Father is the gardener.” (vs. 1) Then Jesus tells us who he is and who we are in relation to him “I am the vine; you are the branches.” (vs. 5) The gardener provides life for the vine and the vine provides life for the branches, and they are all connected. So Jesus calls us to abide in him as the branches abide in the vine. If we do that we will abide in Jesus’ love and joy will be ours. “I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow!” (vs. 11)

Our joy is dependent on our abiding in Christ. Self-centeredness is the barrier to our abiding in him. Our basic problem is that we have dislodged God from the center of our being; self-interest, self-serving, self-worship have taken God’s place.

We were created by God with personalities that can only operate properly when fed by God’s love. When we seek to run our own life on our own terms, dominated by self-interest, we separate ourselves from the stream of love and joy that flows only from God. And yet, when we abide in Christ, allowing his love to nourish us and give life to our spirits, our world expands beyond the horizons of our own limited perspectives and we are able to experience a joy that overflows.

As you pray and fast this week, I encourage you to reflect on whether you are actually abiding in Christ. Do you really want to abide in Christ? I pray that you do, and that as you abide more and more in him, the overflowing joy that he promised will be yours.