Generational Curses: Q & A (Part 1)

I have been absent from my blog for a bit as I have been focusing on writing some Bible studies. I have recently taken a look at our analytics and noticed a surprising number of web searches regarding generational curses, leading readers to my blog post Under the New Covenant, are you still under a generational curse? It is the most searched-for topic on our website, outranking my other hotly debated post regarding women in ministry. (found here and here). I have no idea how I missed all the lively and frank comments regarding that article, so I want to take some time and not only answer those important questions but also attempt to provide interested readers with a deeper Biblical argument regarding the freedom I believe we have received from Generational Curses through Christ’s death and resurrection.

In this post, I first want to establish the plumbline for my argument.

What does God say about curses, and what does He say about you?

One disagreeing reader commented, “If there is no curse anymore, why do Christian women still give birth with pain? It was not a curse that God put on Eve in the Garden of Eden?” Good question, Dora.

Let’s begin the conversation with God’s heart toward humankind before the fall. We first see the unity of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit in creating the world. There was a united decision from the start: “Let us…” It was pre-decided that the world would be found in Him. "just as [in His love] He chose us in Christ [actually selected us for Himself as His own] before the foundation of the world, so that we would be holy [that is, consecrated, set apart for Him, purpose-driven] and blameless in His sight.” (Ephesians 1:4-6) God’s motivation was based on love. We were created in love and for love. Eve was not designed to meet Adam's lack. Adam had everything He needed- except someone to pour the love God had given him into. She was made to come alongside Adam and receive love. When Adam and Eve ate from the fruit, they both bought into the lie that they lacked “God-likeness” and ate from a tree that brought a knowledge of good and bad- performance-based rightness instead of the right- relationship they had with God before the fall. As a result, they abdicated their God-given responsibility to be the world's gatekeepers. Satan became the ‘god’ of the world and set up his kingdom. This kingdom brought with it sin, death, curses, sickness and disease.

After the fall, God moved toward Adam and Eve. He came looking for them, but they hid. Why would they hide from God? God didn’t give them any other warning except to not eat of the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil because it would lead to death. God did not tell them He’d punish them, nor did He tell them He’d curse them- why would they move away from Him when He came looking for them? Could it be that the awareness of themselves distorted their view of God? They could not see his love- only their failure. God became fearful and punisher in their eyes and yet we see how God responded. He is the one who killed and animal - the first sacrifice, to cover over their nakedness. The curses God listed were not thier punishment- they were facts of what they had just let in- curses. It was the consequences of opening up the door to the reign of darkness. Romans 5:12 tells us what happened to the world through Adam, “Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned—”

So, yes, the curse that women have endured since the beginning of time- the curse of pain in childbirth was a result of the fall. This, as well as sickness, disease, destruction, the results of sin and death (all curses) will continue to reign until death is dealt its final blow and Jesus returns to do away with the consequences of the fall once and for all. Until then, we are all living in a world that is decaying.

The curse I mentioned in my original post had to do with generational curses.

For a brief overview, I wrote that when the law was given, the reward for obedience to the law were blessings and the consequences for disobedience were curses as listed in Deuteronomy 28. Jesus became a curse for us as Paul states in Galatians 3:13. Disobedience to the law was sin. If Jesus became sin for us as 2 Corinthians 5:21 tells us, then He also became a curse for us. In Him, the blessings of the law and of Abraham are transferred to us by faith!

Deuteronomy  28:1-2 lists the blessings of obedience “If you fully obey the Lord your God and carefully follow all his commands I give you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations on earth. All these blessings will come on you and accompany you if you obey the Lord your God:”

We are qualified to receive this blessing because Jesus has qualified us. “And giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you  to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light. For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” (Col 1:12-14)

The curses listed in Deuteronomy 28 take up four times more space than the blessings. The law was God’s standard of righteousness for the Jews under the law. The requirements of the law (obedience to righteousness) were nailed to the tree (Colossians 2:13-14). Now, the requirement for righteousness is based on faith unto righteousness- believing that Jesus died as us, that He was buried as us, and that He rose as us! When we go before the Throneroom of Grace, we don’t go based on the performance of our parenting, prayers, good performance, etc. We don’t ask God to take into account our failures or successes. God loves us, and He proved it. We claim the blessings in the court of heaven based on His justice. 

“To demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.” Romans 3:26

God is righteous in calling me righteous. His blessings are not based on my faithfulness but on his faithfulness to honor the work of His Son.

To drive this point in further, read this terrifying curse found in Deuteronomy 28:32: “Your sons and your daughters shall be given to another people, and your eyes shall look and fail with longing for them all day long; and there shall be no strength in your hand.”

And yet, Jesus experienced the agony of your children. If they have been taken captive by this world, Jesus experienced your agony. This should encourage you if you are a parent. We are redeemed from the curse of the law based on His righteousness. 

When God made a covenant with Abraham, God told Him that He and all his descendants, including the world, would be blessed through him- through HIS BELIEVING! (Romans 4:3- “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.”)

‘By Myself I have sworn, says the Lord, because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son—  blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies.  In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.” Gen 22:16-18

Abraham’s natural son was Issac, but through Christ, we have become his spiritual sons through Jesus. “And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.” (Galatians 3:29)

“For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous.” (Romans 5:19)

Christ’s obedience nullified the curses—if the curse says one thing, confidence in Jesus's blood says another. 

Here is now how we can read the curse in Deuteronomy:

“Your sons and your daughters shall be given to the Lord, and your eyes shall look and rejoice all day long; and there shall be strength in your hand. Your eyes will look upon them with delight, confidence, and joy. Blessed shall be the fruit of your body, the produce of your ground and the increase of your herds, the increase of your cattle and the offspring of your flocks.”

If you have a child that the world has taken, you can pray this over them. They are blessed, not cursed!

(In the following post, I will discuss generational patterns and spiritual authority.)