You may have heard a bible teacher talk about something referred to as generational curses. Will you be punished or cursed for the sins of your ancestors? Are these things passed on for generations? Is there a way to avoid them? How do you know if you're under such a curse? Is it inherited? Many questions to be answered but... Oh wait a minute... Hold on. We have a (good) news flash. This just in (hot off the wire): Yes, there is good news even when it comes to this thing called a generational curse.
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I appreciate the teaching especially the reminder that Jesus removes the eternal consequence of sin. However, it must be noted that breaking legal ground (footholds) of the enemy is key to living out and keeping free in Christ. Natural consequences are given to remind us there are deeper spiritual consequences at work. Ezekiel 18 shows the responsibility for generational sin shifts to each individual. Do not dismiss lightly the fact that sins of our parents affect the ability of the children to accept the abundant life in Christ. For example, racism is taught. To overcome it is very helpful to break the agreement one may have had with a wrong attitude taught by a parent, grandparent, etc. Ask forgiveness for the period of time in one's life they lived in agreement with the sin taught by their ancestor and renounce the consequence of living in it for however long.
ReplyDeleteThere is much more to understanding generational sin than can be covered in a fourteen minute clip or a 400 character post.
Bottom line - we inherit a sin nature. Faith in Christ removes the penalty of that sin nature. Becoming like Christ requires us to deal with the effect of our personal sins - both done to us and committed by us. Generational sin is a part of that.
Blessings
TJ
Bottom Line - The Church is NOT Israel.
ReplyDeleteI realize there are many believers who feel they are under such a thing as a generational (spiritual) curse. But what they need to understand is their new identity in Christ. Most people today are seeking from God what He already has provided through the person of Jesus Christ. It's a completed work. Paul stated He HAS delivered us. The cursing or separation that people feel in their mind is due to the unawareness of new life that has already been provided. The inheritance and liberty we have received from Him will always trump any generational curse that came under the law and old covenant. Redemption (deliverance) has already been won. Dave (above) make a good point. As a gentile, I was NEVER under the law that Moses handed to the Jewish people of Israel.
ReplyDeleteFor those who go through a process of attempted spiritual deliverance from something like a generational curse are simply unaware of what already has belongs to them. They may have come to a greater realization of freedom as they went through a "deliverance" process but this stems from a lack of knowledge regarding who they already have become in Christ. There are many other examples of things people THINK they need to DO in order to be free such as confessing sins in order to be forgiven. Or being baptized in order to be saved. People tend to gravitate towards "what must I do" to get right when the gospel is all about what He has done.
Of course people have issues with what they do regarding physical sin and with the mind (soulish realm) but what we're discussing here is a spiritual issue and should not be confused with the soulish realm where we are all going through a renewing of the mind.
Religion will always tell you where to try to improve to be free and to be right before God. The gospel has already declared these things to you through the finished work of Christ and whom the Son sets free shall be free indeed. Grow in the grace and new identity that already belongs to you and I think you'll be amazed at the results.
Agreed Kap. It is about was has been done. This is why Paul spoke of renewing the mind. We spend time trying to mold the flesh into what it will never attain. This sounds like bandaid theology. Pauls writings are all about what has been achieved through Christ and about the renewal of the mind. The modern day church on the other hand wants to attain what Jesus has already accomplished. Not possible. If curses still affect us Jesus IS powerless?!
DeleteWhat we're talking about here really has to do with the finished work of Jesus, and what was accomplished through that work. "Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world." The blood of bulls and goats could only 'cover' sin for a year at a time, but the blood of Jesus took sin away. It was not only the legal consequences of sin that was taken away, but it was our sin itself. Christ has "become sin for us so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him."
ReplyDeleteSin was the nature that we had inherited from Adam, but as Kap pointed out in this podcast, our sin was taken away and we inherited a new nature. The old "us" died and we became "born again of incorruptible seed" (1 Peter 1:23), as "new creations" (2 Cor 5:17), "partakers of the divine nature" (2 Peter 1:4).
Because of the blood of Jesus, our sin has been taken away and our nature has changed. Our identity has changed. Once having had our inheritance of sin from Adam (not through what we did, but through birth), we now have a new inheritance of righteousness from Jesus, again not from what we did, but through the new birth.
Ezekiel 18 shows sin from the perspective of those under the law.
"The soul who sins shall die.
But if a man is just
And does what is lawful and right...
If he...
If he...
If he...
If he has walked in My statutes
And kept My judgments faithfully —
He is just;
He shall surely live!"
Says the Lord God.
(Ezek 18:3-9 and etc.)
This was all conditional. It was all conditional upon how man lived. But as we find out with the finished work of Jesus and the gospel, man's keeping of the statutes of God could never make a man live! "For if there had been a law given which could have given life, truly righteousness would have been by the law." (Gal 3:21). But all that the law did was confine man under sin and could do nothing to bring life or righteousness.
And so this is where the good news comes in. This is what was accomplished through the blood of Jesus. "What the law could not do... God did!" (Rom 8:3). Sin was taken away and we were given a new righteous nature... as a GIFT! Ezekiel 18 (and the entirety of the Old Covenant has been replaced with what was accomplished by Jesus.
The curse has been done away with. JESUS took the responsibility for our sin. It's not passed down from generation to generation. It was nailed to the cross with Jesus!
The wonderful thing is that while it really is true that the entire understanding of generational curses/sin cannot be covered in a 14 minute podcast or in a comment on a blog --- there is no longer any need to understand it! :) In the same way, there were 613 laws in the Old Covenant (not just the "10" commandments), and it would take a long time to understand all of them. But again, there is absolutely no need for that anyway! The law has been "wiped out," "taken out of the way" and "nailed to the cross" (Colossians 2:14), and in a triumphant victory over sin, Jesus has been raised again and we have been raised together with Him in His triumphant victory, and we have life that is in HIM, not in the old law that could never, ever make us righteous and could never, ever give us life. The life and righteousness we needed has been found in Christ alone, and it is absolutely sufficient.
ReplyDeleteThere are indeed, natural consequences to the things we do and to the things that have been done to us. Along with what Kap was saying above, there are so many issues that the mind has to deal with, as a result of all of this. We have a brand new nature and identity, and that is the truth about our born again spirit, but in the soul realm (mind, will, emotions), which is different from our spirit, we have a constant renewal process going on.
The good news is that this is not a result of any curse from God, including any such thing as a generational curse. This is simply the natural (not supernatural) result of living in unrenewed, corruptible bodies and having thoughts and emotions that run contrary to the truth of who we truly are... again, as Kap was saying above.
Fortunately for us, God is "at work in us to will and to do according to His good pleasure," and He never leaves us nor forsakes us. He Himself began a good work in us, and He Himself is faithful to bring that work to it's fullness!
I believe in generational curses too. My grandpa used to curse a lot and #^* d@!! it, so do I.
ReplyDelete