Ancestral Bondage

Both primitive people in tribal religious groups and modern secularists believe in the power of ancestral bondage. What’s that? It’s the belief that we can be enslaved by evil powers transferred to us by our forefathers. Animistic tribal religions speak in terms of ancestral spirits and transmissions of curses. Modern secularists (many of whom live in New York City) speak of unbreakable genetic influences and intense wounding from abusive, codependent, alcoholic, workaholic, or emotionally distant parents. In both cases, there is a sense that our fates were sealed when we came into this world. We must live with the curse or wounds of our ancestry. But does this have to be the case?

The Bible says no. Absolutely not.

1 Peter 1:18-19 says, “You were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.” Let me paraphrase. A price was paid to liberate you from the empty, meaningless, unprofitable ways of life that you inherited from your parents—ways that lead to destruction. That price was not a dollar figure. The price was infinitely more valuable than silver or gold. The price was the precious blood of Jesus Christ.

Countless New Yorkers are trying to free themselves from enslaving pain associated with their parents. What currency are they using to purchase such freedom? The currency of their jobs, looks, friends, pets, success, power, prestige, promotion, performance, human approval, titles, academic degrees, internships, morality, religious performance, ministerial leadership, bodily perfectionism, boyfriends, girlfriends, husbands, wives, children, packed social calendars, exercise, drinking, or drugs. You name it. We are trying to use “perishable things such as silver or gold” to liberate our souls from ancestral bondage.

But Peter tells us these modes of currency won’t work. It’s all Monopoly money. What will work? What will liberate us from ancestral slavery? Only the blood of Christ. Only the suffering and death of Jesus Christ is a sufficient ransom to fully free those of us enslaved to such ancestral bondage.

How does the blood of Christ free us? Simple. It rips apart the bonds of our pasts and turns us into new creations. 2 Corinthians 5:17 says, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come.” Christ died to transform slaves into new creations, freed from slavery. Christ died to liberate us. He died so that no hex can hold us. Nothing inherited from our parents can enchain us. No abuse, codependency, alcoholism, workaholism, or emotional distance inflicted by our parents can bind us. No level of ancestral bondage can overpower us. We are new creations. We are clothed with the righteousness of Christ and have completely new identities. We are children of God who are dearly and infinitely loved. We have all the blessings of heaven. And when God blesses us with such blessings, nothing (not even our parents) can curse us.

It has been said that the power of the liberator defines the extent of the liberation. How powerful is the liberator from ancestral bondage? How powerful is the blood of Christ? Peter tells us that it is “precious.” The word “precious” conveys infinite value. The power of the liberator is infinite. Therefore, the extent of the liberation is infinite.

Every person in this city has been wounded by his or her parents. I have. We all have. Your parents have been wounded by their parents (so have mercy on them), and you will wound your children (so ask for their mercy). But no wound that has been inflicted by your ancestors is beyond the healing of Jesus. You can be free. But “silver and gold” (idols) will never free you. Only Christ’s blood will free you. You can be a new creation. Receive this offer today and break the chains of ancestral bondage.