Understanding Curses in the New Covenant
Sermon Series - “Practical Freedom Ministry”
Speaker - Lead Pastor Dustin Aguilar
Scripture:
Main Scripture: Exodus 20, Jeremiah 31
Other Scripture: Romans 9:13, Ezekiel 18, Galatians 3:13, Luke 6:28
What do you do if you tell a demon to leave and it’s NOT LEAVING?
3 Questions to Ask in this situation:
1. What sin do you need to confess?
2. Who do you hold in unforgiveness?
3. What curses do you suspect in your life?
(Last week’s sermon focused on the first two, this week we’re focusing on the third!)
Open: Dustin shared his story of this happening a few weeks ago
2 Kinds of Curses:
1. ACTIVE CURSES: a curse someone puts on you (voodoo, satanism, witchcraft, New Age, etc.)
2. GENERATIONAL CURSES: a curse that comes generationally through your ancestors
GENERATIONAL CURSES:
This kind of curse is controversial.
To our western minds, it feels unfair— why would God allow me to suffer for something someone else did?
Keep in mind, sin in general often results in someone else having to deal with the pain/mess of someone else's negative actions.
You can think of generational curses as more of “generational abuse”
Reminder: Spiritual warfare & curses are simple! (But not always easy)
Exodus 20
(v.3-6) Ten Commandments: “Thou shall not make for yourself a carved image…for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me…”
FYI: This is the “second commandment,” but the Jews actually merge it with the first commandment (“thou shalt have no other gods” in v.3)
God says they are not to make a carved image.
Reason: He’s a jealous God visiting iniquity to future generations of those who hate Him.
(v.5) “hate” here isn’t purely emotional – it means choosing something other than God.
Like “Jacob I’ve loved, but Esau I’ve hated” (Romans 9:13) … God “chose” Jacob over Esau.
WORD NERD SLIDE: “ā-wōn” - “iniquity, misdeed, sin”
(v.5) “iniquity” - something going crooked, astray, wicked
bearing your iniquity = you’ve been allowed to walk down that crooked path until reaching the conclusion
(e.g. you choose a crooked way of living, and God allows you to experience the consequences)
The idea of this verse is that the father starts on a path, and God allows a family to experience the consequences of choosing another god other than Him.
Example: Israel’s exile in Babylon
Jeremiah 31
Exile in Babylon: God said it would last 70 years, but 40 years in…the next generation starts complaining that they are being treated unfairly.
(v. 27-28) God was the one who oversaw Babylon coming in to take over Israel.
Babylon did the work, but God was behind it.
And just as God oversaw their going into exile, He is going to oversee bringing them out of exile
(v. 29-30) “The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge.” - a popular saying/proverb back then
paraphrase: “our dads did a bad thing, and we’re suffering for it!”
Ezekiel 18 & Jeremiah 31 both address this problem of generational sin
In Ezekiel, God tells them not to repeat this proverb anymore. Jeremiah takes it one step further: something new is coming!
(v.31-34) The New Covenant is coming!
Jeremiah 31 starts quoting Exodus 20 here referencing the Old Covenant… but God says in the New Covenant, He’s going to put the law inside of them and “they shall all know me”
v.34: “And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”
Curses go right back to Christianity 101.
Jesus died so we’re forgiven!
Galatians 3:13 - Christ became a curse for us.
“curse of the law” is death (now we’re free)
that curse showed us our sin
one of the curses of the law is that God will visit iniquity to future generations of those who hate Him/don’t keep his commandments
Boiled Down:
OLD COVENANT says - God visits iniquity on the 3rd & 4th generation
NEW COVENANT says - God forgives iniquity!
Two Different Ways People Interpret This New Covenant Reality:
OPTION 1: We’re automatically set free from all generational curses when we come to Christ
OPTION 2: The New Covenant provides the power to break every generational curse and break free from all generational iniquity
^As Westerners, it is more natural for us to gravitate towards Option 1 and dismiss Option 2. Our culture is very individualistic. We think— “What do ancestors have to do with me?!”
John Piper Quote: “You may tonight be free from any kind of curse, from God’s law, or from any voodoo or any hex, because Christ bore every curse for you.”
HOW CAN A CHRISTIAN BE FREE FROM CURSES? (What do you do?!)
Look for systems & symptoms
Systems - there are known systems that invite curses (Freemasonry, Eastern Star, Paganism, New Age, etc.)
Symptoms - if you don’t know your families background, look for symptoms, (things that run in your family, like divorce, perversion, homelessness, addiction, sexual abuse of children, etc.)
2 common examples:
pedophilia - often linked to Free Masonry
chronic stiffness in the neck - often linked to witchcraft
These symptoms don’t guarantee you’re linked to these symptoms, but they can be a great indicator
FOR GENERATIONAL CURSES: Repent, Renounce, Reject, Rebuke
Repent - “Heavenly Father, please forgive me of any involvement in that generational iniquity”
Renounce - “Heavenly Father, I renounce that practice.”
Reject - “I reject every spirit that acme to me through that practice. I reject every promise, every curse, and every covenant. I call on the New Covenant in Jesus’ blood to override every other covenant and curse.”
Rebuke - “Every spirit associated with that practice, GO!”
FOR ACTIVE CURSES PUT ON YOU: Bless & Break
Bless - Luke 6:28 - bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you
Break - “Heavenly Father, please break whatever curse has been placed on me. Please decommission any powers and principalities that have access to me. In the name of Jesus, whatever curse is here, be broken. Whatever spirit is here, I command you, GO!”