Divine Partnership for Generational Transfer 1/6

“Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away“…James 4:14

 The ‘Selfie’ generation is in full swing!. #love-thyself.

#Selfie is the new way of branding the old message of ‘self-adulation’ loosely based on the philosophical ideal of the right self-image. As the thinking goes: How can you give love to your neighbor where you have none for yourself at all?.

Whilst this may seem like wisdom, the evidence of the new lows we see before us in our media space everyday is nothing short of ‘idolatry’. A cursory look at our church billboards, flyers and messages from our pulpits clearly indicate that a larger part of the church is firmly in the grip of this phenomena. ‘come to Jesus, to become the best you’.

One massive failure of this new ‘self-actualization’ movement though is the gross over-valuation of human lives.

The focus of new-age Christianity now pivots around the axis of ‘SELF’ with MAN squarely at the center of all things: To the extent that our narrative now points to a role-reversal where we have taken God’s place, whilst God exists to serve us and pander to our every whims!! There is very little or no mention of our responsibilities to Him and His expectations from our lives.

Is this scriptural at all? Does this tally with God’s divine intent and purpose for us?
Did Christ die that we may rise at the alter of self?

The scriptures are so clear on this one fact: God has clear and definite expectations from your life and my life! Yet how can 1 human lifespan of 70yrs average be truly worth anything to God who is eternal, infinite, and stands outside time?

One short answer:-
1 single lifespan does count for something, but there is a further dimension to the value of that 1 lifespan from a generational perspective which either increases its worth or discounts its value.

Its not far fetched to say that it is from the aggregated sum of several lifespans that God derives real benefit and that 1 human lifespan begins to have a proper measure of value.

God operates with a generational perspective and is very generational minded in his dealings with us.

 “For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away” 1 Peter 1:24

Lets take away our fleshly mindset for a moment and examine the scriptures carefully: 1 peter 1:24, James 4:14, Psalm 103:15 and a host of other scriptural references all tend to throw cold water on the purported value of a single human existence.

Our singular lifespans are nothing but vapor. Yet in the average 70yrs of mist that we live, the majority of us spend over 60% of that time trying to get our bearings. 20% of it actually doing something with it, and the last 20% retiring & dying. Too Morbid?

Let us employ the 4×100 meters relay race system as a template in this assessment, The fulfillment of 1 sequence (1 macro purpose) will equal to the sum of 4 micro sequences. If every athlete in the 100 meter trap represents one lifespan, then we can theorize that it would take 4 lifespans to get 1 tangible result (fulfillment of purpose) from an eternal perspective.

The Race is about the Baton not the Runner!
In our previous discussion on “The Night Cometh” we defined MAN as ‘Morning-Afternoon-Night”. The preparatory phase is likened to their morning, the crucial phase when each athlete must step up to receive the baton and run with it is the afternoon phase and the time we hand-off the baton to the next generation is the night phase.

Whilst all 4 athletes are concentrating on successfully running their ‘leg’ of the race, No singular ‘leg’ can be entirely divorced from the macro race as a whole. If 1 of them runs the race in a selfish manner – totally isolated from the macro (generational) target, then no matter how well he runs the race and how well he scores his performance, it would have been a waste, and he would have failed in his purpose.

The race is about the baton not the runner!! Each runner must focus on receiving/handover the baton successfully, if there is a dropped baton, then he must attempt to locate the baton, pick it up and recover the pace. The focus must always be on the baton and ensuring it is kept moving at maximum speed and efficiency

 2 Samuel 18:19-33 tells the story of the race between Ahimaaz and the Cushi.
Though ‘a good man’ (i.e. a Christian) Ahimaaz made the race about himself (not the baton), it was a life lived by pandering to flesh (selfish ambition), a life which had no bearing on generational transfer, and ultimately yielded no real fruit though great effort was applied. The King was not moved by the tidings.

From one eternal perspective, it can take 3-4 lifetimes before God actually derives tangible benefit from our lives. Meaning from His perspective He views 3-4 generations as 1 lifespan. Naturally this means that the ‘foundation’ that is laid by my forebears can either enhance or hinder my own race thus either jeopardizing or advancing the generational target as a whole.

‘Be not as your Fathers’: Receiving and Passing the baton.
God has an expectation from my ‘lineage’: My grand father’s life, my father’s life, my life and my son’s life should produce eternal impact vis-a-vis generational transfer. Their contributions both –ve and +ve will bear a measure of impact on my beginning. Either as a springboard or a hindrance.

Numbers 14:18 “…visiting the iniquity of the father’s upon the children unto the third and fourth generation”

Psalm 11:3 – “If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?”

The foundation that has been laid for us by our forebears and those we also lay for our spiritual/physical children is crucial to the fulfillment of the macro purpose from a generational standpoint. Passing on the blessings (advantages) and the judgments (disadvantages) alike.

The bible is replete with the importance of generational transfer as one vital component in God’s consideration, and in the next 5 teachings we will observe this by examining the lives of some of the patriarchs.

The Church fails when it majors on pandering to our self-centered motivations and lifestyles, because it sells us a model of Christianity which falls way short of God’s divine standard of generational value.

The battle is singular | The War is generational
Our adversary the devil is not asleep. Much as he embroils us in personal battles, he tactically wages war upon us with a generational mindset. Wether we accept it or not, the war is generational, we must do our part in our lifetime to advance the cause of the kingdom in our lineage, and also prepare and equip our children accordingly.

“Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices“..2 cor 2:11

“And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.” ..Rev 12:17

“This charge I commit unto thee, son Timothy, according to the prophecies which went before on thee, that thou by them mightest war a good warfare” ..1 Tim 1:18

Our enemy knows our generational ‘Achilles heel’ and fashions his weapons accordingly. Failure to conduct proper spiritual mapping has often led to the transfer of generational strongholds, which have so often been the undoing of many people. “My people perish for lack of knowledge”

I totally subscribe to Romans 8:1 which says “there is therefore now no condemnation to the who are in Christ”. I am not talking of generational sin here, NO!!. Rather what I am referring to are ‘recurrent patterns’ in the lives of believers which often transfer from generation to generation until it is properly dealt with. E.g. Believers who are raised in a divorced home have a higher propensity to also end up divorced. etc.

“and they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places: thou shall raise up the foundations of many generations: and thou shall be called, The repairer of the breach, the restorer of paths to dwell in”…Isa 58:12

God’s instruction to us remains “be not as your Father’s”, yet is it His desire that we will rise to be repairers of the breach and the foundations. In order that his generational objectives can be placed back on track!

The devil’s target however is always to get us to do the contrary to ‘be not as your fathers’ so that the judgement’s (setbacks) will also hinder us. Our adversary always works to ensure the foundation is faulty and compromised so that God derives no tangible value from any of our lives.

The adversary has caused a breach in many lives and foundations of our forebears. When we come to Christ and accept his full salvation we are delivered from the power of Sin. Thus we are not doomed to repeat the same mistakes yet we must be conscious of past failings and certain emotional/physiological tendencies, and make a concerted effort through the grace of Christ to walk a better path.

I recently counseled a young couple who in their 2nd year of marriage where dealing with issues of infidelity. In the course of the discussion I was becoming a bit harsh on the husband who had strayed, but then the Holy Spirit clearly said to me ‘don’t be too harsh just yet, ask about his father’. It soon became apparent that there was a recurrent cycle in his paternal lineage toward marital infidelity. His father had done it, His grand father also, much at the same stage in all their lives.

Was he condemned to repeat the mistake of his fathers? No! But he repeated them nonetheless. Why? Lack of vigilance!!
Moses was reckoned by God to be his choicest servant whom he spoke to face to face. However Moses failed to tackle the issue of anger which ran in the tribe of Levi, and implosion at the point of reward was the result.

Too many Christian’s unnecessarily repeat the mistakes of their forbears, because they fail to understand the instruction ‘Be not as your fathers’. The adversary will rarely attack you at your position of strength, but would rather target the ‘weak spots’ that have plagued those before you with a high probability that you would also fall prey to it. This error is not limited to blood relatives, but broadens to the community and often national spirit also.

God’s recommendation to Abraham continues to be eternally instructive in this regard: “Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house to the land that I will show you“.

‘Get thee out’ : meaning the onus for the deliverance is on us, His expectation of us is that we must endeavor to break out from the familial, cultural and national patterns, which tend to become strongholds in our lives and have no bearing in his divine plan. Instead we should be conformed to a new mindset in order that the breach may be repaired, and our children can have an easier time of fulfilling generational purpose.

To run the Christian race with the self-consumed approach to prosperity and self-actualization, solely seeking God because of our selfish needs causes us to fall short of His best.

#Selfie is not the way of Christ, but rather #denymyselffdaily by way of the cross is!
its a far less sexier theme! But we are called to be the salt of the earth not the sugar! The appearance of salt make it far less attractive than sugar! #life-vs-death.

We must constantly run our race with a consciousness of generational transfer guiding our choices and decision-making if our fleeting lives should count for anything in God’s consideration.

Like the psalmist says, “teach us to number our days that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom“.

Grace to you.

p.s
We continue this series with an examination of the lives of Abraham, David, Hezekiah and a few other patriarchs of the faith. Stay tuned.