In Christ, we have been redeemed from generational and every other curse (1/4)

Beloved of God, is it not strange that the first place where many hear of their generational or other curse is from church pulpits where preachers should be teaching the flock about the finished work of Christ in redeeming all who accept His sacrifice from the curse of the law? Watch what you are hearing in your local church, beloved. 

God’s word tells us that the Lord God brings the consequences of the fathers' wrongdoing on the children to the third and fourth generation. See this in Exodus 34:6-8 where the Lord spoke to Moses:

"And the Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, 7 keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children’s children to the third and the fourth generation.”

See the NIRV: "As He passed in front of Moses, He called out. He said, “I am the Lord, the Lord. I am the God who is tender and kind. I am gracious. I am slow to get angry. I am faithful and full of love. 7 I continue to show My love to thousands of people. I forgive those who do evil. I forgive those who refuse to obey Me. And I forgive those who sin. But I do not let guilty people go without punishing them. I cause the sins of the parents to affect their children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.”

Now recall the time when Joshua and Caleb as well as the ten unbelieving Israelites came back from scouting the Promised Land. The children of Israel sinned by complaining and questioning why God was bringing them into the Land. They even wanted to kill Joshua and Caleb for trusting in the Lord to give them the land! See this and God’s response to their unbelief in Numbers 14-

10" But all the people talked about killing Joshua and Caleb by throwing stones at them. Then the glory of the Lord appeared at the tent of meeting. All the Israelites saw it. 11 The Lord said to Moses, “How long will these people not respect Me? How long will they refuse to believe in Me? They refuse even though I have done many signs among them. 12 So I will strike them down with a plague. I will destroy them. But I will make you into a greater and stronger nation than they are.”

Moses knew that God the Righteous Judge can never sweep sins under the carpet. Even we would be appalled if an earthly judge let those who break the law of the land go free. With God, perfect reckoning for sins is not negotiable. God's Righteousness and Justice demand that every sin be punished to the uttermost - Death. Yet Mercy/Grace and Truth go before His face- Psalm 89:14-

“Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne; Mercy and truth go before Your face.”

You know what Moses’ response was to God after He made known His intent of destroying the Israelites in this chapter? He pleaded with the Lord for mercy on their behalf by asking Him to show His strength in a way that would seem very strange to many of us today. See how in verses 15-19 of the same Numbers 14 with emphasis on verse 18–

15 "Suppose You put all these people to death and leave none alive. Then the nations who have heard these things about You will talk. They’ll say, 16 ‘The Lord promised to give these people the land of Canaan. But He wasn’t able to bring them into it. So He killed them in the desert.’ 17 “Now, Lord, show Your strength. You have said,

18 ‘I am the Lord. I am slow to get angry. I am full of love. I forgive those who sin. I forgive those who refuse to obey. But I do not let guilty people go without punishing them. I cause the sin of the parents to affect their children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.’

19 Lord, Your love is great. So forgive the sin of these people. Forgive them just as You have done from the time they left Egypt until now.”

In verse 18 above, Moses quoted to the Lord what the Lord Himself said earlier concerning the generational curse in Exodus 34:6-8. He used this word of God to plead to the Lord to have mercy on the children of Israel when He was going to destroy them in the wilderness. Plus, notice what the Lord said in the first portion of His word that Moses quoted:

‘I am the Lord. I am slow to get angry. I am full of love. I forgive those who sin. I forgive those who refuse to obey.'

And immediately after this, the Lord says—

"But I do not let guilty people go without punishing them. I cause the sin of the parents to affect their children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.’

Isn’t that an oxymoron of some sort? How can God the Righteous Judge legally forgive or pardon those who refuse to obey YET not let guilty people go unpunished?

What has the Lord's being slow to get angry, His fullness of love and His forgiveness of sins got to do with Him punishing sins and causing the sins of parents to affect their descendants? 

How is it that the Lord can “forgive those who refuse to obey” YET “not let guilty people go without punishing them”?

Beloved, the Cross is the reason why. Another (Christ) took our place of punishment. Our sins were laid upon and punished in the body of Christ that we who knew sin might be declared righteous in the sight of God—

“For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” 2 Corinthians 5:21.

In His love, God “POSTPONED” the punishment of those who sinned previously and were deserving of instant death, so that He could include them in what He would do— delivering up His own Son to bear the judgment of death which we all deserved for our inability to keep the requirements of the law; see this in Romans 3:25-26 in caps below—

21 “But now God has shown us a way to be made right with Him without keeping the requirements of the law, as was promised in the writings of Moses and the prophets long ago. 22 We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are.

23 For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. 24 Yet God, in His grace, freely makes us right in His sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when He freed us from the penalty for our sins. 25 For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed His life, shedding HIS blood. THIS SACRIFICE SHOWS THAT GOD WAS BEING FAIR WHEN HE HELD BACK AND DID NOT PUNISH THOSE WHO SINNED IN TIMES PAST, 26 FOR HE WAS LOOKING AHEAD AND INCLUDING THEM IN WHAT HE WOULD DO IN THIS PRESENT TIME. GOD DID THIS TO DEMONSTRATE HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS, for He Himself is fair and just, and He makes sinners right in His sight when they believe in Jesus.

27 Can we boast, then, that we have done anything to be accepted by God? No, because our acquittal is not based on obeying the law. It is based on faith. 28 So we are made right with God through faith and not by obeying the law.”

By postponing the judgment of death for sins for the unbelieving Israelites and those who sinned in times past, and including them in what He has done in sacrificing His own Son for us all, God’s righteousness and justice is upheld in His showing us Mercy— it is ALL based on the legal foundation of Jesus Christ and Him crucified, hence His word to Moses in Exodus 34–

7 “I continue to show My love to thousands of people. I forgive those who do evil. I forgive those who refuse to obey Me. And I forgive those who sin. But I do not let guilty people go without punishing them. I cause the sins of the parents to affect their children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.”