When a person has the same (sinful) behavior and experience the same negative things as (grand)parents, many times it is thought that the person lives under a curse. But as written in previous blogposts, a born-again Christian can impossibly live under a curse. Because through regeneration in Christ, a person is redeemed from the curse, because Christ has become a curse on the cross and has taken the curse for fallen mankind upon Himself. Besides that, the curses that are described in the Old Covenant were part of the law and came from God and not from the devil. But if it isn’t a curse, what is it? What many people don’t realize and don’t see spiritually, because they are carnal and don’t know the Word, is when you became born again in Christ, you were transferred to another kingdom and don’t belong to the devil anymore, but have become an enemy of the devil. You have entered a spiritual warfare and the devil, who is the ruler of this world, shall do anything to captivate you and possess your life and make you a prisoner of his kingdom again. And there is one way, he can accomplish his plan.
The spiritual warfare in the garden of Eden in heaven?
The first spiritual warfare, we read about in the Bible is the battle in the garden of Eden in heaven, where Lucifer, the archangel fought with God and eventually lost the battle. Lucifer was no longer yielded to God and no longer obeyed Him, but he had become prideful and rebellious and wanted to be as God.
Because of his behavior the archangel Lucifer became an adversary of God and God cast him out of heaven on earth. This first spiritual warfare evolved around one thing, namely disobedience to God (Ezekiel 28:12-17, Isaiah 14:12-16).
Lucifer was fallen because of his disobedience, which derived from a prideful heart and therefore he knew that disobedience to God (sin) would separate every creation from God. And so Lucifer tried the win the creation by making creation disobedient to God.
The spiritual warfare in the garden of Eden on earth
The second spiritual warfare took place in the garden of Eden on earth. The whole creation, including man, was created perfectly by God. However, the devil saw his chance to accomplish his plan, which had caused his fall from his position in heaven and the reason he was cast on earth.
Lucifer knew that the cause of his fall was disobedience to God, which derived from a prideful heart. Therefore, if he could ensure that man, who was the crown of God’s creation, became disobedient to God through obedience to him and would bow for him, he would take the position and authority of man on earth and man would belong to him and he could accomplish his plan, to be like god, through man.
And so he made a plan and found a way to seduce man and cause man to become disobedient to God and be separated from God and fall from his position.
How did the devil succeed to make man disobedient to God? By making man doubt the truth of the words of God.
The devil approached man through a serpent, a creation that God created and man was ruler off, and he tempted man by changing the words of God and by a twisted truth, a lie.
Man should have believed the words of God and stand on His words, which were the truth. However, man didn’t do that but instead began to doubt and believe the words of the creation above the words of the Creator.
And so the devil got, what he wanted; the position and authority of man on earth, the place in heaven (where he was able to come), and the rulership over man. He would be the ruler, the father, of mankind and therefore his nature would be present in mankind, who had become his sons (Genesis 3).
The power of the sinful nature in the flesh
In the Old Covenant, we see the power of the sinful nature, which dwells in the flesh of man. We read about how the people of God, who were carnal, left God and wandered off and went after false gods and false doctrines and feared the people more than they feared God.
By doing their own will and through disobedience to God and His words, they fell in the hands of the enemy and blamed God for all their misery and lack, which derived from their own behavior.
But every time when the people cried out unto God and repented of their behavior, God looked after His people and send His Word and healed (restored, redeemed) His people.
This wasn’t a one-time event, but a reoccurring event, because of the weakness of the flesh.
The people were not spiritual, but carnal and therefore they trusted and relied on their own human knowledge, wisdom, and insight instead of the words of God, which possessed His knowledge, wisdom, and insight.
The carnal people rather wanted something tangible, than rely on something that was invisible to them. Therefore the people were focused on signs and wonders and the people constantly asked for a sign and were influenced and led by supernatural manifestations, which didn’t always come from God.
Although carnal people had knowledge of good and evil, they lacked spiritual insight, because the spirit of man had died because of the fall of man which was a result of the disobedience of man to God. Therefore, they couldn’t discern the words and works of God and the words and works of the devil. They could only discern the words and works by the law.
Because God had made His will known and revealed His thoughts and His ways through the law. God revealed good and evil. Therefore sin is revealed by the law and the law is holy and not bad or evil (Romans 3:20; 7:12).
However, the flesh was not able to submit to God, since the nature of the devil is present in the flesh causing man always to exalt himself above God and want to do those things that go against His will.
By the obedience of Jesus Christ many be made righteous
For if by one man’s offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.) Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous (Romans 5:17-19)
For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit (Romans 8:3-5)
And so Jesus Christ came to the earth and became equal to man and took the place of man and carried the punishment of sin, which is sin, and overcame death and gave back the authority, which God originally had given to man, back to everyone, who would become a new creation in Him.
He restored man through regeneration and made man whole (healed the people). The spirit of man was raised from the dead, whereby man had become spiritual and was reconciled and connected with God.
The new man is spiritual
And you hath He quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others (Ephesians 2:1-3)
The old man is unspiritual and can’t see the Kingdom of God. Therefore the old man is darkened in his mind and doesn’t see spiritually, what the new man sees. The old man walks after the flesh in disobedience to God and is not focused on the things of the Kingdom of God but on the tangible things of the kingdom of the world; the kingdom of darkness and relies on the visible.
It’s not a curse, but the works of the flesh that derives from the lust and desires of the flesh and the mind that are controlled by the powers of darkness.
Some think they live under a generational curse, because they show a.o. the same behavior, the same sin and experience the same aspects in life as their parents, like for example, alcoholism, addiction(s), depression, rejecting of self, anxiety, (emotionally or physically) abuse others, infidelity, divorce, fornication, sexual uncleanness and perversity, stealing, lying and so on.
But all these things have nothing to do with generational curses, but with the will and the choices, which derive from the will of the sinful flesh of man.
Every person makes choices in life to do things and doesn’t do things.
Everything man does have consequences. If you walk after the flesh and do the works of the flesh, you shall reap destruction. This is what the Word says, and the Word is the Truth.
A person can say all kinds of things and approve everything, which happens in many churches.
In many churches, sin is approved and is no longer wrong. While the Word is very clear and says that everyone, who commits sin is not born of God and therefore doesn’t belong to God and shall not inherit eternal life but eternal death. These are hard words. But these hard words do possess the truth (a.o. John 8:34-35, 1 John 3:9).
Jesus also spoke hard words, which were the truth, but the people were not able to bear them. Why? Because the truth calls to repentance and a change and letting go of the familiar. And that is something the carnal man doesn’t want to do.
But every person is responsible for his own actions. You can’t blame your parents or grandparents or others for your behavior.
If you are led by unclean sexual lusts, it derives from the lusts of your flesh. These unclean sexual lusts derive from unclean powers, to whom you have submitted yourself to. No one else has done that for you.
It is not a generational curse, but a lack of will power
If you feed yourself with the things of the world and you watch and listen to things that contain, for example, sexual elements, then you open yourself for unclean perverse powers and they shall manifest in your life. The same applies to the occult. If you get involved and move in the occult you will get involved with unclean spirits, who will manifest in unclean (sexual) acts and perversity.
You can’t use generational curses nor culture for the choices you make, which derive from your will. It’s not a generational curse or any curse whatsoever, it’s the result of your behavior and the choices you have made.
Many people say, “ah well, I can’t help it, it just runs in the family” or “it’s just part of my culture” and use these lies because they do not want to change and use them as an excuse to justify sin. But these lies of man may justify the act of sin for carnal people, but God will never justify the act of sin no matter what excuses and lies are used (Read also: ‘Do generational curses exist?‘ , ‘Can a Christian live under a curse?‘ and ‘Every culture disappears in Christ‘)
A thought is not a sin, but a fertilized thought is a sin. If an unclean thought, which diametrically opposes the will and nature of God, comes up in your mind and you immediately take that thought captive in Christ and cast it out of your mind, then you have overcome.
But if an unclean thought comes up in your mind and you meditate on this thought, that thought will overcome you and lead you to sin.
Adultery doesn’t just happen, but is a premeditated sin. When you commit adultery you have sinned wilfully.
Because before you have committed adultery, many moments have passed, wherein you had a choice to stop this work of the flesh. But you have not done that, but you have yielded yourself to – and obeyed this unclean spirit of adultery that has manifested in the flesh
Every person is born in iniquity as a sinner and it is the will of God that every person repents and by faith become born again in Christ and lay down his flesh, so that the darkness no longer reigns in a person’s life. But it’s a choice, every person makes for himself or herself and every person is responsible for it.
Regeneration and the change of nature
Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new (2 Corinthians 5:17)
Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as He is righteous. He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil. Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for His seed remains in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother (1 John 3:7-10)
When you are born again in Christ, you are a new creation. This means that you are a new creation and you are no longer the old creation.
You don’t have the sinful nature of fallen man, which reigns in the flesh and are no longer a sinner (a son of the devil), but you have received God’s nature, which reigns in the spirit and you have become a saint (a son of God).
Therefore, when you become born again a visible change in your life will be the result of this spiritual change.
If this doesn’t happen and you persevere in sin and keep doing things, which go against the will of God and are an abomination to Him, you should earnestly ask yourself if you have become a new creation. Because the works you do are works of the flesh.
And if you are born again and your flesh has died in Christ, your flesh can do no works anymore, because it’s dead. If you keep doing the works of the flesh, your flesh has not died yet (Romans 8).
The devil goes around as a roaring lion, seeking whom he can devour. He wants one thing and that’s to keep you in the flesh and keep you ignorant and far away from God, so that you keep doing those things that go against the will of God and live in disobedience to Him.
The new man has received in Christ the authority and the power by the Holy Spirit to stand in the faith and resist sin.
The new man reigns in Christ as king over sin
Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God (Romans 8:12-13)
You have a choice to say “no” to sin and to reign in Christ by the Spirit as king over sin.
Stop blaming your parents or others, who maybe have spoken negative or evil words over your life. Those words can’t do anything in your life, unless you believe the words of man above the words of God and act upon these words.
You must know that the power of God is stronger than the power of the devil. But you have to believe this and walk in it. Because as long as you consider the powers and works of the devil more powerful than the power of God and the work at the cross, you shall never be able to resist temptations and overcome the devil and reign as king over sin and death, but sin shall reign as king in your life.
‘Be the salt of the earth’
