Who merits generational curses
Who merits generational curses, i.e. who deserves generational curses?
Covered above (previous page) was the biblical fact that it is God who's the source of generational curses. Since it is God only who can bring generational curses does he assign generational curses on Christians as well? Do Christians merit or deserve generational curses?
The answer is that no Christian can face generational curses for any reason. We have been freed from the curse of the law, through Christ having been made a curse for us.
“Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: ‘Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.' He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit,” Galatians 3:13-14.
Since Christians do not merit or deserve generational curses this leaves out non-Christians. Do non-Christians merit or deserve generational curses?
The answer is yes – according to the bible. Non-believers may face generational curses because Christ has not yet freed them from the curse of the law. However, even if they may face generational curses the source of such curses is God, not Satan, and neither any demon spirits from his kingdom.
It also means God does not go out on a cursing rampage of assigning generational curses on non-believers for every wrong of their parents. God has sins that merit a generational punishment. It is among these sins that he assigns generational curses or generational punishments.
In Exodus 20:5 he says he punishes the children of parents who hate him: “…punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me ,” Exodus 20:5 (emphasis added).
The reference to hating God has many dimensions. It's a very broad term that includes walking in sin. We cannot assume that God goes to punish children for every sin parents commit. People would be in serious bondage if this was the case.
Thus the hatred of God must refer to certain sins that parents commit. We can only speculate what these are. However there are some sins that we can confidently say are in line with the scriptures on generational curses. These are sins of idolatry. This is clear because the third commandment that specifies the punishment of generational curses is actually addressing idolatry.
“You shall not bow down to them (idols) or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me,” Exodus 20:5 (emphasis added).
Thus it is fitting that non-believers who have parents that practiced idolatry can be under God's generational curses. Idolatry is one sin we know from the bible that merits generational curses. In our era this form of idolatry is involvement in occult practices.
Needless to say that generational curses are not permanent. God does not ensure every family member faces his punishment regardless of a person's spiritual status. Being under a generational curse is based on grounds of being liable to receiving a generational curse. Thus the solution is removing the legal grounds for receiving a generational curse. As you may know by now the only way to do this is through salvation. This is one of the reasons why it's so important that we pray for family members who may not yet be saved.
Conducting generational prayers to break generational curses is therefore a waste of time. The only solution is to pray for their salvation so that they may come under the covering of Christ.
Salvation enables all their sins to be covered by the blood of Jesus, including any sins of parents that the law may hold them accountable for. “To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father--to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen,” Revelation 1:5-6.
God's salvation is therefore what enables him to automatically break generational curses. He is the curse breaker, not some “deliverance ministry” preacher or “deliverance ministry” church. Deliverance ministry churches are supposed to lead people to Christ to do the deliverance work, not themselves.
Since it is God who actually brings generational curses we can breathe with a big sigh of relief as Christians. As Christians the whole generational curse topic has no validity. It does not apply to us. Christians cannot suffer from generational curses.
Certain traits and matters among believers may seem like generational curses but this is not scriptural. Such matters are in the context of the fallen nature. Matters of the fallen nature do not constitute generational curses.
Being obsessed with generational issues is also not encouraged in the bible. Scripture cautions us against those who follow endless genealogies. Such only teach false doctrines that try to resurrect the law we were freed from, at least in this capacity. “Command certain men not to teach false doctrines any longer nor to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies,” 1 Timothy 1:3-4.
Our defense against traits, experiences and matters that may seem like generational curses is to bring them before God. We “remind” him that through Christ any family curse, parental curse or ancestral curse has been broken. We remind him that any curse against us is undeserving because of Christ having been made a curse on our behalf. We ask for our rightful bread which is his blessing not his curse. We also endeavor to live blameless lives in God's eyes.
Not only do we seek God's deliverance from such matters we also endeavor to understand the matters as much as possible. Having mere assumptions won't do us any good. We'll just be guessing what the causes are and thus applying wrong solutions. One of such wrong assumptions is that the matters constitute generational curses.
A key way of understanding matters that may seem like generational curses is to have a basic understanding of genetics. The next few sections cover on the secular field of genetics and later align the topic with the bible.