Jesus inherited complex problems from his dysfunctional family background. He broke His generational curse. Because of His victory, I have been able to be victorious over my generational curse too.
First, I will discuss my generational curse and then Jesus' generational curse and the victory he won over it which by faith gives me His victory over my generational curse!
The generational curse can be described as a low hanging black cloud overshadowing my "I," my essential,self-hood. My emotional dysfunction is inherited from my dysfunctional parents who inherited it from their parents who inherited the curse of Adam. Every generation is under the curse. Every generation must choose to break the curse through the power of Christ who broke free from His generational curse.
Not only did I inherit dysfunction from my parents, but I chose to be dysfunctional and manifest it in my emotions and relationships. I can't blame them. I have to point my finger at myself. I didn't so much blame my parents as I did others just like Adam blamed Eve.
For me, I didn't understand my issues and could not heal until I first understood what they were.
I experienced so much emotional pain which led to bodily pain caused by my emotional pain and stress. My chest constricted. My head ached. My stomach churned. At one time, I was on an anti-depressant just to be able to function.
Unknowingly, I tried to kill the pain through unhealthy means which led to addictions. Then, the pain-killer became the pain producer I tried to relieve my pain my way which is the only way I knew. It's the way my parents relieved their pain. Dad withdrew. Mom lost her temper. There are so many other ways they coped that I can't list them all. I inherited their ways of coping from them. It didn't work for them, and it didn't work for me. That's part of the generational curse.
There came a time when the pain was too much for me to bear. It drove me to seek help through counseling, group therapy, reading Christian self-help books, Scripture, and time in solitude where I did some serious thinking on who I am.
I came out on the other side healed, whole, and well. The low-lying black cloud lifted, and I saw the brilliant blue sky like those I've seen in Montana. Incredible! I was free "from a fated lifetime of brutal tyranny at the hands of sin and death wrought by my generational curse and my own choices to give expression to the curse I inherited from them and from Adam.
The power of Christ's victory over His generational curse lived in me through his Holy Spirit. I had not realized that victory until I switched on His overcoming power through faith and acceptance of who I am in Christ. I found that salvation is more than a decision and a destiny in heaven. It is a process. The New Testament calls this "being sanctified."
Paul expressed this power of Christ to break my generational curse in Romans 8:1-2. "With the arrival of Jesus, the Messiah, that fateful dilemma is resolved. Those who enter into Christ’s being-here-for-us no longer have to live under a continuous, low-lying black cloud. A new power is in operation. The Spirit of life in Christ, like a strong wind, has magnificently cleared the air, freeing you from a fated lifetime of brutal tyranny at the hands of sin and death" (Message Bible).
Jesus inherited the generational curse too and overcame it. How was He cursed, and how did He overcome it?
Jesus on earth was the God-man. He inherited his humanity from Mary. He is God through the divine seed planted in Mary's womb. Yet, He inherited His generational curse from both of His earthly parents. Yes, He inherited Joseph's generational curse too even though Joseph was not His father but rather His step-father.
I have two biological children and a step-daughter, the daughter of my wife, whom I adopted. Believe me, she inherited my generational curse even though I am not her biological father!
The genealogy of Jesus given to us by Matthew as recorded in Matthew 1:1-16, is a Hall of Shame and not a Hall of Fame. Jesus' family tree on Joseph's side is populated with fornicators, murderers, adulteresses, prostitutes, liars, cursed kings, idolaters, and other sinners.
God did not cover up, hide, dismiss, or ignore the dysfunctional family background of His only beloved and begotten Son. It's there standing stark naked for all to see.
Out of shame and guilt, my parents taught me to hide my family's incidents of dysfunction. There were some things that others just didn't need to know about. How about you?
Not so with God who sees all and knows all about us. He knows what goes on and went on in our family behind closed doors.
It's not emotional healthy to keep secret the painful things that happen in our familial relationships. I could not begin my healing process until I opened up about these issues and my own issues with a "safe" person who I could trust. It was liberating and like a load came off my back.
From the examples in Jesus' genealogy, God showed me how to break the bonds of shame, guilt, and dysfunction in me and my family.
The Messiah's royal lineage begins with David. God did not conceal or hide David's sins and addictions. Instead, he describes his sins in excruciating detail. Look at David's addiction to sex. He committed adultery with Bathsheba even though he had several wives and many concubines who were at his beck and call. But, they were not enough. He wanted one more woman. That's the nature of addictions. He lusted for Bathsheba, a married woman even though he had a harem of women at his command.
He got Bathsheba pregnant out of wedlock. Then he tried to cover his sin by bringing Uriah her husband, home from the front line of battle. Uriah refused to sleep with her as a tribute to his fellow soldiers who could not sleep with their wives. Then, David got Uriah drunk. That didn't work either. So, he sent Uriah back to the front line with orders to Joab, his commanding officer, to place him in a position of such danger that Uriah would be killed in battle.
In the next generation, the generational curse was passed down to his son, Amnon, who raped Tamar, his half sister. David did nothing about it.
Then, Tamar's brother and David's son, Absalom murdered Amnon. Absalom revolted against his father and drove him from the throne. Then, Absalom met a violent, shameful death at the hands of Joab and the curse continued from there. It is difficult to believe that David is the patriarch of the family through whom God would bring the King of kings!
God doesn't hide or cover up sin. I tried to cover my sins. My parents tried to cover their sins. But sooner or later, they are going to be manifested publicly. An example from my life are the times I lost my temper in front of others. I was exposed for who I was. I couldn't hide it. All I could do was apologize and promise to myself that it wouldn't happen again. Yet, I was powerless in my own efforts to change. The generational curse went deep into my soul.
God revealed my sins, dysfunctions, shame, and addictions to bring self-awareness through their pain for the purpose of driving me to the cross where Jesus forgives my sins. His love demonstrated through His shed blood on the cross covers my transgressions and releases me from the torment of shame and guilt.
God deals with me honestly, openly, and truthfully. There is no place for shame, sham, pretense, or secrecy. Confessing that I am responsible for my dysfunction opens the door for the grace, mercy, and love of Christ to work effectively in me bringing healing and wholeness to my emotions and soul.
Not only was David and his descendants from dysfunctional families and had addictions, but all the men in Jesus' genealogy had issues too.
Skipping now to the women listed in the lineage of Jesus, they too had emotional and behavioral baggage too. Take Ruth for example. She was a Moabite. The entire Moabite race was a product of incest. Lot's daughter got him drunk and had sex with him. The son born out of that incestuous affair was Moab, the father of the Moabites.
Then, there is Rahab. She was an immoral whore, idolatrous, and an outcast Gentile woman. Her story is told in Joshua 2. Rahab was the wife of Salmon and the mother of godly Boaz who was David's great grandfather!
Did Jesus inherit the generational curse from Joseph, his step-father. Yes! The legal right to rule always came through the father's lineage. Jesus was legally Joseph's son just like my adopted daughter is legally my daughter. Jesus was legally in the royal line of David through Joseph. He had every right to rule.
The other genealogy of Jesus is recorded by Luke. Luke gives the human, biological genealogy of Christ through Mary that includes David in that family tree. Mary is not implicitly mentioned by name, but the record in Luke begins with Mary's father, Heli. Mary also has David for an ancestor.
When the genealogies recorded by Matthew and Luke arrive at David, they split with David's sons showing Nathan on Mary's side and Solomon on Joseph's side. Thus, Jesus got a double dose of the generational curse. He inherited it from Joseph, his step-father, and Mary, his mother.
The genealogy of Jesus and the generational curse passed down to Him through dysfunctional families in his genealogy shows the transforming power of God's grace to break the generational curse! Jesus broke the curse! He inherited the sin nature but didn't sin! He was tempted in every way that I am tempted to yield to the sin nature or the flesh as the Apostle Paul called it.
Jesus is a friend of sinners. He understood the generational curse and struggled with it too. However, he chose never to allow its manifestation in his emotions or mind and won the victory over the curse!
What's amazing about grace is seen in David. David openly confessed his sin and was forgiven. God removed David's shame and guilt even though the consequences of his sin was passed down to succeeding generations just like in my lineage.
Each generation is responsible and each generation must break the curse through the love and forgiveness of God through Christ.
Rahab, the harlot, became a true convert of the living God and trusted in the God to come who was Christ.
The dysfunctional family background of Jesus strikes a knock-out blow to the face of the genealogical curse because he overcame the curse through His sinless and perfect life. I am saved by the life of Christ as well as the death of Christ. Through the death of Christ, I die to sin and the curse. By His resurrection, I am raised a new creature with His resurrection power of the Holy Ghost living in me.
God in His mercy through Christ does for me what I cannot do in liberating myself from my generational curse. I cannot break out of the binding chains myself. Only Christ heals me, mends my broken life, removes my guilt, shame, secrecy, and sham and restores my shattered hope.
Today, I am free from the curse. My inner voice of shame that called out has been silenced! The accusing voice that screamed, "I'm not good enough. Something is wrong with me. I'm unworthy. I can't forgive. I cannot be forgiven. I can't admit I did that and must cover it. I'm rejected and not accepted. I am inadequate."
My inner voice of shame has been silenced by the deafening roar of love, acceptance, and forgiveness of Christ demonstrated by His death on the cross. He loved me. He loves me to this day. And, He will love me tomorrow.
That inner voice of shame caused me pain and almost destroyed me mentally, emotionally, spiritually, and relationally.
Now, I hear the voice that I am esteemed by God. I am His child. I am forgiven. I am a spring of living water. I am treasured and valued. I am accepted. I am a branch growing from His vine. That is what I hear. I choose to hear that voice and not the other voice. I choose life and not death. I choose to be defined by the blessing and not the curse! I choose to focus on the redeeming power and grace of Almighty God through Christ in my life. That's how my generational curse is broken. That's how I am free and the only way I can remain free.
That redeeming power and grace brought me out to live under the blue skies of peace, joy, and blessedness.
Note: I am grateful to my friend and counselor, Rev. Roger Bennett, pastor of Overcomers Outreach Center. His sermon, "Lesson to Be Learned from the Dysfunctional Family Background of Jesus: Breaking the Bonds of Shame" was of great help in my understanding and victory over my generational curse.
To finish this devotional, I invite you to listen and worship the Lord through this powerful song by Darlene Zschech and HillSong, "In Jesus' Name."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVsRM55_jsE or click the arrow to play it.
First, I will discuss my generational curse and then Jesus' generational curse and the victory he won over it which by faith gives me His victory over my generational curse!
The generational curse can be described as a low hanging black cloud overshadowing my "I," my essential,self-hood. My emotional dysfunction is inherited from my dysfunctional parents who inherited it from their parents who inherited the curse of Adam. Every generation is under the curse. Every generation must choose to break the curse through the power of Christ who broke free from His generational curse.
Not only did I inherit dysfunction from my parents, but I chose to be dysfunctional and manifest it in my emotions and relationships. I can't blame them. I have to point my finger at myself. I didn't so much blame my parents as I did others just like Adam blamed Eve.
For me, I didn't understand my issues and could not heal until I first understood what they were.
I experienced so much emotional pain which led to bodily pain caused by my emotional pain and stress. My chest constricted. My head ached. My stomach churned. At one time, I was on an anti-depressant just to be able to function.
Unknowingly, I tried to kill the pain through unhealthy means which led to addictions. Then, the pain-killer became the pain producer I tried to relieve my pain my way which is the only way I knew. It's the way my parents relieved their pain. Dad withdrew. Mom lost her temper. There are so many other ways they coped that I can't list them all. I inherited their ways of coping from them. It didn't work for them, and it didn't work for me. That's part of the generational curse.
There came a time when the pain was too much for me to bear. It drove me to seek help through counseling, group therapy, reading Christian self-help books, Scripture, and time in solitude where I did some serious thinking on who I am.
I came out on the other side healed, whole, and well. The low-lying black cloud lifted, and I saw the brilliant blue sky like those I've seen in Montana. Incredible! I was free "from a fated lifetime of brutal tyranny at the hands of sin and death wrought by my generational curse and my own choices to give expression to the curse I inherited from them and from Adam.
The power of Christ's victory over His generational curse lived in me through his Holy Spirit. I had not realized that victory until I switched on His overcoming power through faith and acceptance of who I am in Christ. I found that salvation is more than a decision and a destiny in heaven. It is a process. The New Testament calls this "being sanctified."
Paul expressed this power of Christ to break my generational curse in Romans 8:1-2. "With the arrival of Jesus, the Messiah, that fateful dilemma is resolved. Those who enter into Christ’s being-here-for-us no longer have to live under a continuous, low-lying black cloud. A new power is in operation. The Spirit of life in Christ, like a strong wind, has magnificently cleared the air, freeing you from a fated lifetime of brutal tyranny at the hands of sin and death" (Message Bible).
Jesus inherited the generational curse too and overcame it. How was He cursed, and how did He overcome it?
Jesus on earth was the God-man. He inherited his humanity from Mary. He is God through the divine seed planted in Mary's womb. Yet, He inherited His generational curse from both of His earthly parents. Yes, He inherited Joseph's generational curse too even though Joseph was not His father but rather His step-father.
I have two biological children and a step-daughter, the daughter of my wife, whom I adopted. Believe me, she inherited my generational curse even though I am not her biological father!
The genealogy of Jesus given to us by Matthew as recorded in Matthew 1:1-16, is a Hall of Shame and not a Hall of Fame. Jesus' family tree on Joseph's side is populated with fornicators, murderers, adulteresses, prostitutes, liars, cursed kings, idolaters, and other sinners.
God did not cover up, hide, dismiss, or ignore the dysfunctional family background of His only beloved and begotten Son. It's there standing stark naked for all to see.
Out of shame and guilt, my parents taught me to hide my family's incidents of dysfunction. There were some things that others just didn't need to know about. How about you?
Not so with God who sees all and knows all about us. He knows what goes on and went on in our family behind closed doors.
It's not emotional healthy to keep secret the painful things that happen in our familial relationships. I could not begin my healing process until I opened up about these issues and my own issues with a "safe" person who I could trust. It was liberating and like a load came off my back.
From the examples in Jesus' genealogy, God showed me how to break the bonds of shame, guilt, and dysfunction in me and my family.
The Messiah's royal lineage begins with David. God did not conceal or hide David's sins and addictions. Instead, he describes his sins in excruciating detail. Look at David's addiction to sex. He committed adultery with Bathsheba even though he had several wives and many concubines who were at his beck and call. But, they were not enough. He wanted one more woman. That's the nature of addictions. He lusted for Bathsheba, a married woman even though he had a harem of women at his command.
He got Bathsheba pregnant out of wedlock. Then he tried to cover his sin by bringing Uriah her husband, home from the front line of battle. Uriah refused to sleep with her as a tribute to his fellow soldiers who could not sleep with their wives. Then, David got Uriah drunk. That didn't work either. So, he sent Uriah back to the front line with orders to Joab, his commanding officer, to place him in a position of such danger that Uriah would be killed in battle.
In the next generation, the generational curse was passed down to his son, Amnon, who raped Tamar, his half sister. David did nothing about it.
Then, Tamar's brother and David's son, Absalom murdered Amnon. Absalom revolted against his father and drove him from the throne. Then, Absalom met a violent, shameful death at the hands of Joab and the curse continued from there. It is difficult to believe that David is the patriarch of the family through whom God would bring the King of kings!
God doesn't hide or cover up sin. I tried to cover my sins. My parents tried to cover their sins. But sooner or later, they are going to be manifested publicly. An example from my life are the times I lost my temper in front of others. I was exposed for who I was. I couldn't hide it. All I could do was apologize and promise to myself that it wouldn't happen again. Yet, I was powerless in my own efforts to change. The generational curse went deep into my soul.
God revealed my sins, dysfunctions, shame, and addictions to bring self-awareness through their pain for the purpose of driving me to the cross where Jesus forgives my sins. His love demonstrated through His shed blood on the cross covers my transgressions and releases me from the torment of shame and guilt.
God deals with me honestly, openly, and truthfully. There is no place for shame, sham, pretense, or secrecy. Confessing that I am responsible for my dysfunction opens the door for the grace, mercy, and love of Christ to work effectively in me bringing healing and wholeness to my emotions and soul.
Not only was David and his descendants from dysfunctional families and had addictions, but all the men in Jesus' genealogy had issues too.
Skipping now to the women listed in the lineage of Jesus, they too had emotional and behavioral baggage too. Take Ruth for example. She was a Moabite. The entire Moabite race was a product of incest. Lot's daughter got him drunk and had sex with him. The son born out of that incestuous affair was Moab, the father of the Moabites.
Then, there is Rahab. She was an immoral whore, idolatrous, and an outcast Gentile woman. Her story is told in Joshua 2. Rahab was the wife of Salmon and the mother of godly Boaz who was David's great grandfather!
Did Jesus inherit the generational curse from Joseph, his step-father. Yes! The legal right to rule always came through the father's lineage. Jesus was legally Joseph's son just like my adopted daughter is legally my daughter. Jesus was legally in the royal line of David through Joseph. He had every right to rule.
The other genealogy of Jesus is recorded by Luke. Luke gives the human, biological genealogy of Christ through Mary that includes David in that family tree. Mary is not implicitly mentioned by name, but the record in Luke begins with Mary's father, Heli. Mary also has David for an ancestor.
When the genealogies recorded by Matthew and Luke arrive at David, they split with David's sons showing Nathan on Mary's side and Solomon on Joseph's side. Thus, Jesus got a double dose of the generational curse. He inherited it from Joseph, his step-father, and Mary, his mother.
The genealogy of Jesus and the generational curse passed down to Him through dysfunctional families in his genealogy shows the transforming power of God's grace to break the generational curse! Jesus broke the curse! He inherited the sin nature but didn't sin! He was tempted in every way that I am tempted to yield to the sin nature or the flesh as the Apostle Paul called it.
Jesus is a friend of sinners. He understood the generational curse and struggled with it too. However, he chose never to allow its manifestation in his emotions or mind and won the victory over the curse!
What's amazing about grace is seen in David. David openly confessed his sin and was forgiven. God removed David's shame and guilt even though the consequences of his sin was passed down to succeeding generations just like in my lineage.
Each generation is responsible and each generation must break the curse through the love and forgiveness of God through Christ.
Rahab, the harlot, became a true convert of the living God and trusted in the God to come who was Christ.
The dysfunctional family background of Jesus strikes a knock-out blow to the face of the genealogical curse because he overcame the curse through His sinless and perfect life. I am saved by the life of Christ as well as the death of Christ. Through the death of Christ, I die to sin and the curse. By His resurrection, I am raised a new creature with His resurrection power of the Holy Ghost living in me.
God in His mercy through Christ does for me what I cannot do in liberating myself from my generational curse. I cannot break out of the binding chains myself. Only Christ heals me, mends my broken life, removes my guilt, shame, secrecy, and sham and restores my shattered hope.
Today, I am free from the curse. My inner voice of shame that called out has been silenced! The accusing voice that screamed, "I'm not good enough. Something is wrong with me. I'm unworthy. I can't forgive. I cannot be forgiven. I can't admit I did that and must cover it. I'm rejected and not accepted. I am inadequate."
My inner voice of shame has been silenced by the deafening roar of love, acceptance, and forgiveness of Christ demonstrated by His death on the cross. He loved me. He loves me to this day. And, He will love me tomorrow.
That inner voice of shame caused me pain and almost destroyed me mentally, emotionally, spiritually, and relationally.
Now, I hear the voice that I am esteemed by God. I am His child. I am forgiven. I am a spring of living water. I am treasured and valued. I am accepted. I am a branch growing from His vine. That is what I hear. I choose to hear that voice and not the other voice. I choose life and not death. I choose to be defined by the blessing and not the curse! I choose to focus on the redeeming power and grace of Almighty God through Christ in my life. That's how my generational curse is broken. That's how I am free and the only way I can remain free.
That redeeming power and grace brought me out to live under the blue skies of peace, joy, and blessedness.
Note: I am grateful to my friend and counselor, Rev. Roger Bennett, pastor of Overcomers Outreach Center. His sermon, "Lesson to Be Learned from the Dysfunctional Family Background of Jesus: Breaking the Bonds of Shame" was of great help in my understanding and victory over my generational curse.
To finish this devotional, I invite you to listen and worship the Lord through this powerful song by Darlene Zschech and HillSong, "In Jesus' Name."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVsRM55_jsE or click the arrow to play it.
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