A lot of what has been taught on this subject borders upon unbelief or not accessing the realities of the accomplished redemption of Christ. Today, people are not defeated due to being cursed as much as it is that they are perishing due to their lack of knowledge of the Lord.
This is why Jesus said, “Go ye teaching” and did not say, “Go ye breaking curses.”
Jesus has already been made a curse for us and has already blessed us (Gal. 3:13)! And, what’s more, God was in Christ, reconciling the whole world to Himself, not imputing (holding against) man’s trespasses (2 Cor. 5:19). God is not holding sins or curses against anyone!
The Old Testament said that the sins of the fathers visited on the 3rd & 4th generation. When the Lord said that, He was relating what is known as the 10 commandments to Moses.
In Exodus 20:5 and Deut 5:8-9 it says:
8 “Thou shalt not make thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the waters beneath the earth:
9 Thou shalt not bow down thyself unto them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me,”
The key phrase is ‘of them that hate me‘. In the following verse it says:
10 “And showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me and keep my commandments.”
After God had said this, He gave a statute to Israel in Deut 24:16 that says:
“The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, neither shall the children be put to death for the fathers: every man shall be put to death for his own sin.”
That verse is quoted again in 2Kings 14:6 and 2 Chronicles 25:4. So there are 3 other scriptures that say the children won’t be put to death for the fathers’ sins. It also says essentially the same thing in Jeremiah 31:29- 30.
What we can conclude by these verses is that, even though God had made a statement concerning the consequences of sin upon succeeding generations “of them that hate me”, a principle of personal responsibility was then given to Israel as a part of God’s covenant with them.
It’s as though He was saying, “This generational thing is only true of those who are outside my covenant, but that’s not how it will be with you (who are of my covenant); you are personally responsible for what you do.”
Again, this was spoken to those of the covenant of the law of Moses and is NOT what was said to Christians at all!
2 Cor. 5:19 tells us that God has already (past tense) reconciled the whole world to Himself, not holding against man his sins. It specifically tells us that God has committed to us, the Christians, to go preach this message of reconciliation.
This is what is known as the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. So then, God is no longer willingly visiting sins upon anyone (even those who hate Him and are not saved) seeing that He placed it all upon Christ in redemption!
Since a Christian has been redeemed from the curse of the Law, we know we are not under some sort of ‘generational curse’. And, we know that God will not treat someone based upon another person (i.e., children and father’s) but will deal with each person individually based upon who they are and what they believe (personal responsibility).
Col 1:13 Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:
We have been delivered from the power of darkness. We are free in Christ. The only ‘chain’ or ‘curse’ that we must deal with is that of ignorance.
What are commonly referred to as generational curses today are in reality nothing more than the works of the flesh listed in Galatians 5:19-21. We are the product of our fallen society, culture, false religions, customs and morals taught us by our families, and tendencies we have learned from others. If the parents were alcoholics there may be a tendency for the children to adopt the same behavior. If anger and wrath were a part of the home environment, the same tendencies can be carried over to the children’s homes when they are adults.
While some call these ‘generational curses,’ we would see them as ‘strongholds’ that must be torn down by the renewing of the mind.
2Co 10:4 (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds😉 5 Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;
As born again sons and daughters of God, we are equipped to defeat the works of the flesh by the Spirit and cleanse our minds from the patterns of the past. It is our willful choosing of God’s ways, words, thoughts and actions that will replace the strongholds of the past. Over time, new patterns of the Spirit are established and we are able to walk free from the bondages of the past.
In Christ we have been freed from the power of sin (Rom. 6:7). Walking in that freedom is our responsibility. (Gal. 5:1) Many Christians believe that they must “break” curses. They start from a position of unbelief, not esteeming that Christ did this already. Our fight is not to gain a victory, but to enforce one….that is Christ’s victory!
For more on this topic, we recommend listening to Andrew’s teaching “The Believer’s Authority”, which you can listen to free of charge on our website, here:
The Believer’s Authority: https://www.awmi.net/audio/audio-teachings/?teaching=the-believers-authority
We hope this helps, and please let us know if you have any other questions. We want to be a blessing to you!
Blessings,
AWMI Written Operations Team
Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the
knowledge of God and our Lord Jesus Christ (2 Peter 1:2)
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