“The Bible both Old Testament and New Testament tells the story of Jesus’ family… and points to our redemption, the glory of God, and His love for us… but that story is told through the lives of the family of Jesus…
One of the reasons I have so much faith in the truth of the Bible is it’s honesty in its dealings with its hero’s and important figures…
We can see in Jesus’ family tree both faith and failure…
Jesus chose to emulate the faith, not the failure, of His family tree… In all our families there is some good and some bad… will we choose to lay hold of the good and abandon the bad… or lay hold of the bad…
This line of Christ that should have remained kings became skilled labors…
The sins of Jesus’ the family and it’s leadership of Israel (and eventually Judah) had lead them into captivity literally… Spiritually the sins of our family can lead us into the bondage of sin… but we have a choice, and can break the cycle…
Christ has a way of restoring our family trees. Christ modeled this ministry within Himself, and He can reproduce it in us…
No one could restore the line of David but Christ… No one can restore the broken lines within our families but Christ… We can be the ones, that through Christ, can the break the cycle…
There is a great reward for those that allow Christ to take our family trees and turn them into fruit bearing branches… So what will our story be, what will our line look like following us and I’m not just talking about biological children if we have them… What will our spiritual legacy and line be… will we have spiritual children… will we no longer be victims of our past, of our histories and allow God to radically transform our history into His future…”
For a good article on this subject please check out this link:
https://ag.org/Beliefs/Topics-Index/Generational-Curse
What does the Assemblies of God believe in regard to the verse about the sins of the fathers being passed on to their children?
The idea of a generational curse has captured the thinking of many Christians because it sounds so reasonable. Without doubt, parents have an influence on their children through inherited traits and parental teaching and example. But God holds individuals responsible for their choices and sins, not the sins of ancestors.
The biblical passage on which the extreme teaching of generational curses is based must be revisited in order to see how Scripture has been misapplied. Instructing the Israelites concerning the second commandment, God said, “You shall not bow down to them [idols and other gods] 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, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments” (Exodus 20:5,6). Idol worshipers and followers of other gods truly hate God. And as succeeding generations turn from God to idols and false gods, they too are haters of God and incur His wrath.
The word “curse” is nowhere found in the Exodus passage. But if the punishment God promises idolaters is really a curse, one must ask who places the curse on the children? Human parents cannot cast curses. Neither is Satan mentioned as the source of such a curse. And if God who justly punishes sin places the curse on the children, who could break a curse instituted by God?
There is no question about the fact that heredity and environment do pass some things on to descendants. But the passage must be read from the perspective of the finished work of Christ on the Cross. Nowhere in the New Testament do we find any reference to this concept. Strong emphasis on a generational curse binds rather than delivers believers. Outside the body of Christ, there may be evidence of a generational curse, but for believers the bondage and curse of sin are broken at salvation, even though there may be some natural traits or behavior patterns we must deal with through the help of the Holy Spirit.
What is the appeal of the generational curse teaching? For one thing, it suggests that someone else is responsible for one’s wrongdoing. That fits in with the secular idea that all wrong behavior can be explained by a natural cause and need not be called sin. Then too, it offers a “quick fix” for a nagging moral sin. Instant deliverance from an evil habit like explosive anger sounds more attractive than the hard work and slower development of the fruit of the Spirit. But that is God’s design for leading the believer into a sanctified and holy life.
The above statement is based upon our common understanding of scriptural teaching.
Encouraging word that God can still use us in spite of our past, including generations past. Amen to the above notes. If one goes thru deliverence from generational curses and no change occurs, then what’s next? Can create further defeat and discouragement instead of letting the Lord work out the fruits of the Spirit in us.