IS YOUR GENERATION INSURED?

“A good man leaveth an inheritance to his children's children....” (Prov13:22)

Any child would be proud of a father who leaves behind a beautiful inheritance. I
intentionally qualified ‘the inheritance’ as beautiful because an ugly inheritance can be left
behind. Note that when we lose a loved one (especially our parents), whatever they left
behind (be it liability or possession) is ours. If you are like me, you will prefer not to have
anything, compared to having a debt left behind!
It is the transfer of liability that made mankind guilty of the offence of our fore-parents;
Adam and Eve. Unfortunately, when they died, they did not pay in full for the liabilities they
incurred (sin), so their children and children’s children remain guilty. Hence the axiom, “for
all have sinned (even the nice guy) and fallen short of the glory of God” is very true.
But I thank God for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ who came to pay the price for the
liability (sin) left behind by them. The only snag to receiving this full payment is the
requirement of your signature accepting that your price is fully paid. Failure to do so, I am
not sorry to tell you, you remain guilty. It does not matter whether you agree with me or not,
liability is the only inheritance our fore-parents left behind. Period!
I will advise you (If you haven’t) to sign the dotted line that you indeed are guilty of the
liability (sin) left behind by Adam and Eve, and accept that it has been paid in full by our
Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. Do it now!!!
You will observe from the scriptures that after Jesus paid the ultimate price in full as a good
‘big brother’ (father), He left us an inheritance that qualified us to be joint heirs with Him
(i.e. He took the liabilities and replaced them with possessions). Halelluyah, praise God! You
should put on your dancing shoes now and give glory to God, because your inheritance is no
more a liability but possessions through Jesus.
Having understood these, I want you to read these scriptures carefully: “Know therefore that
the LORD thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant... to a thousand
generations;” (Deut7:9). I particularly like these three translations; the BBE (Bible in Basic
English) translates this as... God keeps His word; the Contemporary English Version (CEV)
says...He keeps His agreement, while God’s Word (GW) translates it that...He keeps His
promises.
“.... Visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children's children,
unto the third and to the fourth generation “(Ex34:7)
Now, these two scriptures show us the nature, character and ways of God. But they also
indirectly reveal to us what we stand to inherit from our parents by the reason of their
interactions with God.
Notice that Exodus says the iniquity of the father becomes a liability for the children. That is
what is termed as a generational curse” in Christianity. According to Ezekiel, ‘the fathers
have eaten the soured grape and the teeth of their children are set on edge’ (Ez18:2). So it is
possible from this scripture for people to inherit misfortune by the reason of their
lineage, because the price of their sin is not yet paid for in full.
On the other hand, Deuteronomy shows that though God visits iniquity, he also keeps His
word, promise or covenant. So it is possible for man to inherit blessings because of his
lineage, because the reward of obedience is promised.
Before we dig deep into the major discuss, I want you to take note of what God said in
Exodus. Clearly He said the consequences of the iniquity of parents can be passed from the
first generation to the fourth. (Now, that is scary, but true). But you must notice that the
iniquities that are transferable are those that have not been repented of. God forgives sin! It
will be out of place for God to hold you or your children guilty of a sin you have already
repented of. Again, if you read the previous lines before the last one quoted, it said, ‘He will
by no means clear the guilty’. The guilty is the unrepentant not the repentant. On the other
hand, if for example you belong to a guilty family and you repent on behalf of your parents
and yourself, you cease to be guilty from then on.
What I am saying in essence is that your salvation experience (if you are born again) has
severed you from the guilt of your fathers. If I were you, and born again I will start another
song of praise to my Heavenly Father right now because you know that you are no more
guilty. Shout it on the mountain top. “I am no more guilty”. Halelluyah! Again, observe that
God said the iniquity however is to the fourth generation. Meaning God does not keep a
generation in perpetual bondage even if they have not yet repented of their sin. It will
only continue if the fourth generation commits theirs. So what perpetuates a curse is not
God, but man not changing his ways.
Now, to our main discuss, our God keeps His promises. Just on hindsight, don’t you wonder
that whereas He punishes iniquity to the fourth generations, He however keeps promise of
blessing to a thousand generation? I think and believe that the answer lies in His plan when
mankind was created. Observe in Gen1:26-28 that when man was created the only thing He
did was to bless them. Curse only came about because of disobedience (sin). In essence,
curse was not in the original plan of God for mankind; hence punishment for iniquity
cannot be forever. However, blessing is God’s plan for us, hence as long as we are
connected to Him; He keeps His promises, words or covenants to a thousand generation
(that means forever). Praise God!
From the scriptures, you will observe that our God is a generational God. He does not deal
with a man, but his generation. Examples abound in the bible. For example when God was
going to destroy the world He saved Noah and his household, even when he was to destroy
Sodom and Gomorrah, he saved Lot and his household. The story is told of Jehonadad the
Rechabite in 2Kings10:15 who was faithful to God and whose generation kept God’s
instructions and remained blessed. Jer35:2,5-7,18,19. Even David was promised by God that
his seed will be on the throne forever; that is why Jesus is the son of David. So when God
calls a man, He is addressing his generation yet unborn. If a man also chooses to be
defiant to God, he is preparing his unborn generation for punishment.
In essence, what I am saying is that whatever your actions or inactions might be, they have
far reaching consequences on your generation for good or bad. The consequences are what
we saw in book of Exodus and Deuteronomy. For better understanding, we shall pick a
character in the Bible; Abraham. His introduction started from the book of Genesis11 where
he was said to be a part of the genealogy of Shem, one of the three children of Noah. Then
came his call in the next chapter and the promise that through him (i.e. his obedience) shall
the nation of the earth be blessed. And he obeyed, taking extra luggage with him (his father
and nephew). We know the story; finally at the age of hundred and his wife ninety they
finally gave birth to the child who was to be the heir. (As long as you are in God’s will, none
of His promises to you will go unfulfilled).
Afterwards, God required that he offered his son, his only son (of promise), Isaac for a
sacrifice and he obeyed. What really is obedience? It is simply acting according to the
instructions of God irrespective of how you feel. Notice, obedience is not necessarily doing
nice or good things; it is simply doing what God asked you to do without adding anything to
it; period! Because of Abraham’s obedience God re-affirmed His promise to him and added,
“...and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; and in thy seed shall all the nations of
the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.” (Gen22:17b,18)

This promise was later confirmed in Isaac, even in the midst of famine, God remembered His
promise to Abraham and visited Isaac promising him same thing, “...I will perform the oath
which I sware unto Abraham thy father; ...Because that Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept
my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.” (Gen26:3b,5) And so Isaac
enjoyed the benefit of his father’s obedience. The same benefit was extended to Jacob. Even
though he wasn’t so morally sound yet he keyed into the covenant and enjoyed. Space will
not permit me to show all that Jacob enjoyed.

This same covenant/promise was extended to the twelve children of Jacob; they were
delivered from captivity, led through the wilderness, even in their imperfections and their
doubts, because God had promised Abraham a land which he never saw, his generation who
were not even there had to receive it.

“By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive
for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went. By faith he
sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac
and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise: For he looked for a city which hath
foundations, whose builder and maker is God.”(Heb11:8-10) So it was Abraham’s obedience
that guaranteed the children of Israel a promised land. From this scripture you can see that no
promise of God to you will go un-fulfilled. As long as you obey God’s instruction and keep
on believing for the promise. If you do not get it, your children or children’s children will.
Every blessing of God is to a thousand generation, God cannot lie, so it must come to pass.

This takes us now to our base scripture, a good father therefore is a man who lives in
obedience to God’s instruction, one who lives by faith (i.e. by the word), and one who is
led by the Holy Spirit. Such a father is insuring his generation for good. That is the only
lasting inheritance you could ever leave for your generation because that is the only
inheritance that is, “incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven
for you” (1Pet1:4) No economic down turn can change such fortune, no uncle can cheat you
out of such inheritance, no latest car discovery, house or whatever can make your inheritance
obsolete, because it is reserved in heaven. Whenever you need it, you shall get it brand new.
(Excuse me while I give my God some praise; this is too much, I am too excited to continue
halleluyah! Praise God!)
Icing on the cake; “Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children
of Abraham. So then, they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham.” (Gal3:7b,9)
If you are of faith, you have keyed yourself into Abraham’s blessing, so if you wish to
perpetuate such blessing in your generation, the only wise thing to do is to keep your
generation in the faith then you can rest in peace because your generation is insured forever;
knowing that our God keeps covenant, promise and His words forever!