This morning I woke up from an interesting dream. In my dream I was talking with an older gentleman that I was acquainted with, and he had been struggling with a serious sickness. As I asked him how he was doing, he made mention that he was doing ok, but that this sickness was the result of the sins of one of his previous ancestors. He then went on to quote from Exodus 34:7b NIV": ... "Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation.”
My response was interesting, as I was immediately moved with compassion for the man! He was sitting under condemnation due to incorrect understanding, and teaching, and my heart was moved to gently open the scripture to him, to help him free himself from the chains of condemnation. That is where I woke up.
This is clearly not one of my normal dreams, so I thought it was worth diving into the topic that come up, as wrong teaching and understanding can be very harmful in our lives. I was having breakfast with a friend yesterday and we were talking about similar topics, although more along the lines of the theology of healing and faith, and how we can be taught things by well-meaning pastors that are not consistent with the truth that is found and demonstrated in Christ Jesus. In the past the Lord walked me through a progression, concerning sin, that can be seen in scripture, and that is very applicable to this dream today.
As I was thinking about this dream, I felt like the Lord even gave me the title, saying He has the final word concerning sin! What a great message of hope!
As I mentioned previously, in the past the Lord had laid out for me a progression that we can see in scripture of how sin was described and dealt with, and it is important that when we think about sin, we think correctly, and do not remain stuck with an Old Testament mindset like the man in my dream. The verse from Exodus is clearly not the last thing God says about sin, and even generations affected by sin.
In Ezekiel we see God updating the peoples understanding concern sin. Here are the verses - Ezekiel 18:19-23 NIV:
[19] “Yet you ask, 'Why does the son not share the guilt of his father?' Since the son has done what is just and right and has been careful to keep all my decrees, he will surely live. [20] The one who sins is the one who will die. The child will not share the guilt of the parent, nor will the parent share the guilt of the child. The righteousness of the righteous will be credited to them, and the wickedness of the wicked will be charged against them.
[21] “But if a wicked person turns away from all the sins they have committed and keeps all my decrees and does what is just and right, that person will surely live; they will not die. [22] None of the offenses they have committed will be remembered against them. Because of the righteous things they have done, they will live. [23] Do I take any pleasure in the death of the wicked? declares the Sovereign Lord. Rather, am I not pleased when they turn from their ways and live?"
We see here clearly that the former word of punishing sin to the third or fourth generation is no longer true. He says clearly that He will NOT cause the guilt of the parent to be shared by the child. In fact, it looks like He actually forgives the person for previous sins. God is helping the Israelites progress in their understanding, concerning sin, and we can see in this progression a greater truth that will be revealed. We see God providing a prophetic understanding of what He was planning in Jeremiah 31:31-34 NIV:
[31] “The days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and with the people of Judah. [32] It will not be like the covenant I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them, ” declares the Lord."
[33] “This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel after that time,” declares the Lord. “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. [34] No longer will they teach their neighbor, or say to one another, 'Know the Lord,' because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest,” declares the Lord. “For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.”
Here we see God promising to forgive our sins and remember them no more! This is clearly pointing to what He did through Jesus, yet at that time, they only had the promise of the New Covenant, yet weren't living under it. However, if God said He was going to forgive their sins and remember them no more, it would be impossible for Him to then punish a future generation for a sin He no longer remembered and had already forgiven.
We have here two of the important updates on the topic of sin, both found in the Old Testament, but they are not the final word yet, for that is only seen in Christ Jesus! We know from Hebrews 1:3 that Jesus is the exact representation of the Father, and thus what is revealed by Him (Jesus) is exactly what the Father is like and doing and saying. Much of the truth concerning Jesus' death and resurrection was only understood afterwards, but Jesus addressed the truth of God's plan multiple times.
Jesus alluded to God's plan to save us from our sin in John 3:16-17 NIV: "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. [17] For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him."
Jesus spoke about the forgiveness of sins several times, even forgiving people of their sins, much to the consternation of the Pharisees. Finally, Jesus on the the night of the Last Supper, initiated the New Covenant, as prophesies by Jeremiah some 700 years earlier, during the meal as recorded in Matthew 26:27-28 NIV: "Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. [28] This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins."
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Luke 22:20 NIV: "In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you."
The author of the Letter to the Hebrews later was helping the Jews understand this all and wrote the following - Hebrews 9:15,22 NIV:
[5] "For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance---now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant."
[22] "In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness."
Since Jesus has shed His blood for the forgiveness of our sins, why would God ever hold them against us, or against our children? We have been set free from the requirements and punishments found in the Old Covenant, and we now live under the New Covenant, set in place through Jesus' own blood. We can no longer be condemned for our sins that are covered by Jesus blood! Paul writes the following - Romans 8:1-2 NIV: "Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, [2] because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death."
We have been set free from all of that, and thus to think, like the man in my dream, that we can be punished for the sins of our earlier generations is clearly no longer relevant, or true. The final words concerning all of this were spoken by Jesus, while he hung on the cross, "It is finished!" (John 19:30). One of the meanings of the word Jesus spoke is "paid". He completed exactly what He was sent to do.
Peter wrote the following about Jesus, “He himself bore our sins” in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; “by his wounds you have been healed.” (1 Peter 2:24 NIV) Again, I ask, if Jesus bore our sins, and died for them, why would the Father punish us for them again?? Was Jesus' sacrifice insufficient or ineffective? Is God such a wrathful God that He wants to make us pay over and over again for something that has already been paid for by His beloved Son? Clearly the answer is NO.
Today, my encouragement is to fully embrace the truth of the New Covenant, that Jesus shed His blood to establish! We are all set free from the requirements of the Old Testament Covenant of the Law, and all of its rule and regulations and punishments! Thus no longer will a man's guilt be shared by his children, or his children's children. Rather, if we receive the salvation offered to us in Jesus, all of our sins have been paid for, and are remembered no more!
As Paul writes in His letter to the Romans 8:31-34 NIV:
[31] "What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? [32] He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all---how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? [33] Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. [34] Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died---more than that, who was raised to life---is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us."
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Romans 8:38-39 NIV:
[38] "For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, [39] neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."
This includes sin! Jesus clearly has the final word conerning our sin, because He paid for it all.
Amen and Amen!
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