1 Peter 1:18-19
knowing that 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.

Sanctification is not an easy process, but it is yet another of the wonderful promises found over and over in the precious word of God.

And again, like the promises reflected upon so far in this series, this too is a past event (“were ransomed”) made complete by the blood of Christ which includes present and future implication.

For me, this speaks to the very real lineage that I know of. My father was a rage-aholic and my mother was a suicidal alcoholic, neither believed in Christ. Both of my grandparents on my mothers side were at best alcoholics and my dad being one of 13 brothers and sisters told stories of huge divisions between siblings growing up; to the point of me only meeting maybe 1 uncle out of dozens if not 100 relatives, none of which I know because we were isolated from both sides of their families.

So I, being an only child in the midst of that emotional war-zone have no struggle at all calling what was my childhood teachings as “futile ways”.

The glory of Christ is that no matter what our story, the hurts caused or the hurts we commit, Christ is the complete Redeemer. Our past holds nothing against the blood of Jesus which was poured out for our transgressions, and the transgressions of others.

I do not know if Christ revealed Himself to my father before he died, but I do know that it took me 20 years of bitterness toward him that I used as my identity as victim before I surrendered the hate, the resentment, the blame and began looking at my own life and actions and realized I grew up not much different, and yet thought all these years I was a “good person”.

For anyone who has read any of my blogs you know my laundry list of generational sins from the outwardly obvious drug addiction in my youth, to my adult alcohol addiction, and even now after almost 3 years of sobriety battling lustful desires, selfishness, pride, fall-back modes of isolation, workaholism, idols of money and comfort.

Titus 3:3-7
For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. 4 But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, 5 he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, 6 whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

We can claim with confidence and boldness that the generational curse stops with us, this time and place was predestined before creation.

If you are reading this, and your heart has been touched by the love of Christ Jesus, and your thoughts and behaviors are being  transformed by the renewal of your mind (Romans 12:2) then we can claim the victory through Christ for He has chosen us as His own and through the power of the Holy Spirit we can rest in knowing that the battle for surrender of our futile ways does come to completion in glory at the time of Christ’s return.

We can live today as new creations (2 Corinthians 5:17) free from the futility of our old ways, ways that were taught us, ways that we developed out of survival, ways that the world told us would make us feel better, living instead with a focus on kingdom ways and longing for kingdom days when every knee will bow and there will be no more pain or suffering.

That is the promise of God, redemption by the blood which is unaffected by anything that happened in the yesterdays of our life but instead speaks to the incredible tomorrows that lie ahead and the glory of today.

Father God, fill our hearts with praise this day, rescue us from the worries and darkness of this world, that we may live in a way that is outwardly visible to those around us so that when asked we can point them to You as our Rescuer, our Hope, our Purpose, the Reason for our joy. The past is behind and is what led each of us to this place and time in Your presence, with You, in Your, for You. For that reason Lord I would not change any of my past for I can’t imagine what my life would have been if I missed you along the way. Help me to live just for today, firmly rooted in each moment, filled with a purpose and joy that simply seeks new ways to glorify Your name in all that I do. Thank you for this journey of redemption, the Promise that tells me I am not a product of my past but instead of  product of Yours, and in that my present and future are secure and filled with great hope, joy, peace and purpose filled love for all that you place in my path this day. Thank you Jesus, it is in Your name I pray…