As researchers race to perfect artificial blood, promising medical breakthroughs that could save countless lives, Christians are faced with a deeper question: Are we forgetting what God says about blood, what it is, what it represents and who gave it purpose?
In the pursuit of innovation, even noble goals can lead humanity down a path that ignores the spiritual weight of God’s design. Blood is not a neutral substance. It is the holy transport system for the very breath of life that God breathed into man.
According to scientists at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, artificial blood is being produced by extracting hemoglobin from expired human blood and surrounding it with fat molecules to mimic red blood cells.
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“It’s designed so that at the moment it’s needed, a medic can mix it with water, and within a minute, you have blood,” said Dr. Allan Doctor. His team is testing the product by simulating trauma in rabbits. “This rabbit is still in shock. You can see he’s lying very still. It’s as if he was at the scene of an accident,” Doctor explained. As the artificial blood was administered, technician Danielle Waters quietly said, “Good bunny.”
It may seem like a triumph of science, but beneath the surface lies a deeper concern. In Genesis 2:7, Scripture says, “Then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living soul.” That divine breath is what animates all humanity. Blood, as created by God, is the delivery system that carries oxygen, the physical marker of life, throughout the body. It is not only biologically essential but spiritually emblematic of the life God imparts.
Every drop of blood flowing through our veins today was created by God, it originates from His design, infused with His breath of life. It is not merely biological; it carries His divine fingerprint. When we receive blood through transfusion or birth, we are still receiving what God first authored. But what happens when we begin placing man-made blood, something not formed by the Creator but fabricated by human hands, into a body that houses a living soul?
/**/No one can say with certainty what spiritual consequences may follow, but to ignore the possibility is both reckless and arrogant. When we exchange something God made for something artificial, we may be introducing more than we realize, altering not just the body, but potentially opening doors to unseen spiritual effects we are not equipped to understand or control.
Leviticus 17:11 reveals more: “For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls.” Blood is life. And life is not simply a cellular function; it is a gift from God, a sacred trust. The human body cannot live without blood because blood carries the breath of God to every part of it. To alter, manufacture or re-engineer that process is to misunderstand not only biology but theology.
The creation of artificial blood may appear practical and necessary, particularly in crises where lives hang in the balance, but as believers, we must measure such developments against God’s eternal truth. Though we are not under the Mosaic Law, the Law shows us how God sees things. And from the beginning, God made it clear: blood is holy. Hebrews 9:22, written after Christ’s Resurrection, affirms this: “Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.” This points directly to Jesus, the final, perfect sacrifice, whose blood was not symbolic, but essential, powerful and saving.
The blood of Jesus did what no animal sacrifice and no synthetic replication ever could. “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins” (Eph. 1:7). It is through His blood that we are washed clean, made new and granted eternal life. His blood didn’t just symbolize life, it was life, poured out for the salvation of all who believe.
This is what makes today’s rush to replicate blood so spiritually dangerous. God did not simply create blood to carry nutrients. He made it the carrier of His breath, the sign of His covenant, the instrument of His mercy and the proof of His justice. The further man strays from that understanding, the more we risk treating what is sacred as ordinary.
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Japan’s contribution to this race only highlights the global nature of this movement. “Professor Hiromi Sakai’s laboratory in Japan has already launched clinical trials using artificial blood,” the Gateway Pundit reports. Sakai’s product can be stored for up to two years and used for all blood types. But in the eyes of heaven, shelf life does not outweigh sanctity.
We must remain vigilant. We are called to be wise, not cynical, but also not naive. While medical technology may save a body, only the blood of Christ saves a soul. If the church loses sight of that truth, it will soon treat divine design as raw material to manipulate rather than a holy mystery to revere.
James Lasher is staff writer for Charisma Media.
