The Shocking Power of the Blood of Christ

By His boundless mercy we have been born again to an ever-living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, [Born anew] into an inheritance which is beyond the reach of change and decay [imperishable], unsullied and unfading, reserved in heaven for you…
1 Peter 1:3, 4 AMPC

We are not forever condemned to the generational curses that we inherit when we’re born. The Blood of Jesus Christ is our pardon for death and destruction – including curses – that our unredeemed humanity cannot escape. And when we step into the divine inheritance and move from hating God to loving Him, the power of the curses we both inherited and earned on our own is broken, for us and for our children. The bloodline that we were born into no longer holds sway once we are born again into a new “inheritance.”

The Blood of Christ Transcends Time

My posts this week have been heavy and a little uncomfortable, but that’s unavoidable when hatred of God is on the table. That there are very real consequences for rejecting Jesus and hating God is the truth whether we acknowledge it or not. But the Blood is not just a “Get Into Heaven” card; it is redemptive in every way.

It’s a mistake to view God through a punitive and suspicious lens because it blinds us to just how complete and miraculous His Love and Mercy are to us. Loving God doesn’t just redeem us, it turns generations of curses into blessings for our children, their children, and their children’s children for a thousand generations. How can we even take that in?!

Imagine the prodigal son returning home in utter disgrace, confessing his sins against God and his father, and then asking his father to take him on as the lowest servant. Now imagine if instead of embracing his son and honoring him in every possible way, the father said instead, “I’m so glad you’ve seen how wrong you were and how much you messed up. I will absolutely take you back as the least of my servants. You can live in the barn and I’ll make sure that you don’t starve. See, you were too wicked for me to allow you to escape the consequences of your actions, but how about this? When you die, I’m going to acknowledge you as my son again and you’ll have a burial fit for a king. No expense spared!” That would be a very different parable about a very different God, but that’s how this life would look if the only thing that the Blood of Christ did was guarantee a spot in heaven.

The Blood moves miraculously back in time when we are born again. The flow of healing and blessing takes place in ways we can’t see through the Blood of Jesus, but it is just as real as the flow of curses in our natural, God-hating bloodline. God’s mercy and love is so complete that we can barely comprehend it—even when the truth is staring us in the face. Hating God earns a curse to the fourth generation, while loving God is rewarded with blessing to the thousandth generation. Is that the mark of a cold, punishing God?

Reconciled by the Blood of Christ

Even the generational curse is motivated by love and mercy. God does not allow suffering because He’s amused by it or just that hard; that would be gross. No, even the weight of the curse is intended to bring reconciliation between the lost sheep and the Good Shepherd. That’s my story. I thought at first that I was broken beneath the weight of my own sin and wickedness, but I know now that that wasn’t the only burden I struggled under – and it was all perfect. I couldn’t bear the load and I broke and was saved. Perfect mercy and perfect love.

In our new inheritance, we have the mind of Christ and the Spirit’s own wisdom, so we are no longer subject to a degraded natural mind. Also, the Blood of Christ Himself flows through us, grafting us into the family of God, so the story of our human ancestors no longer defines our place in this world. We are the prodigals welcomed home by a Father Whose forgiveness is total and Whose embrace is warmer and more loving than we ever imagined possible.