When the Same Illness Hits Four Generations, That Is Not Genetics Alone

Sermon outline

God created us to rule and Christ wore the crown of thorns to restore that dominion, so a believer who recognises a curse running through the family line, and the open door it came through, has the authority to close that door and break it.

1. Created to rule: our original identity

   God made man in His image and gave him dominion, blessed him and told him to be fruitful and subdue the earth, with seed-bearing plants as a perpetual provision. That was not mere existence but a mandate of governance. From birth we are given the capacity to rule, and even where others act, we govern through our words, our lives and the Spirit within, so success, leadership and stewardship are our spiritual defaults.

   “God has not called us to be victims. God has called us to be the victor.”

   • Genesis 1:26-31
   • Matthew 10:30
   • Philippians 2:9-10

2. From tilling to toiling: the crown was lost

   Through disobedience humanity abdicated its authority, the ground was cursed and the environment became hostile. Work that had been a blessing became toil, effort that met resistance at every turn. Even a believer who loves Jesus can still be toiling when everything in life is "I" and "me", working without fruit and feeling that no one is grateful for what he does.

   Illustration: Anyone who has tried to dig up a Durban backyard, picking out stones in the sun, knows the difference between tilling and toiling.

   “Before the fall work was a blessing. And after the fall, work became hard.”

   • Genesis 3:17-18

3. He wore the thorns so we wear the crown

   The soldiers who twisted a crown of thorns onto Jesus' head thought they were mocking Him, but they were acting out a divine mystery: He bore the curse of the ground, poverty, sickness, mental anguish and resistance. In exchange we receive the crown of fine gold, a double portion instead of shame, and the power to get wealth. It is a divine exchange: you give God everything and He gives you more than everything.

   “We wear the glory because He wore the thorns.”

   • Matthew 27:29
   • Psalm 21:3
   • Isaiah 61:7
   • Deuteronomy 8:18
   • 2 Corinthians 12:10

4. How to recognise a curse

   Drawing on teaching his father once played the church from Derek Prince, he separates a natural season of struggle, which passes and is restored, from a curse: an unnatural cycle that cannot be broken by natural means and repeats down a family line. He lists the signs: mental and emotional disintegration, chronic and hereditary illness, female reproductive problems, relational enmity and repeated divorce, financial insufficiency, being accident prone, and premature or unnatural death. The moment you recognise it, God has empowered you to break it.

   Illustration: He was once so angry that he kicked a boy through the door of the principal's office and put holes in walls. God delivered him and changed him from an interior destroyer into a builder.

   “The fact that the same illness hits the mother, then the daughter, then the granddaughter, then the great granddaughter, there is a curse.”

   • Deuteronomy 8:18-20
   • Haggai 1:6
   • Psalm 90:10

5. There is no curse without a cause

   Curses enter through open doors. Idolatry: sangomas, fortune tellers, horoscopes, tarot, Ouija boards, dream catchers and charms, and trusting people rather than the Lord. Disregard for authority, especially dishonouring parents. Persistent sin and fleshly living. Stealing, whether tithes, an employer's time, or the love and blessing owed to a spouse and children. Injustice and exploitation of the weak, including contempt for foreigners. And our own words, by which we curse ourselves.

   Illustration: Sitting on social media during work hours, or claiming a doctor's visit while going to a job interview, is stealing from your employer. If you are unfaithful with other people's things, how will God be faithful with yours?

   “Curses do not magically appear. There is no curse without a cause.”

   • Proverbs 26:2
   • Deuteronomy 27:15-19
   • Romans 1:23
   • Jeremiah 17:5
   • Deuteronomy 28:23
   • Ephesians 6:1-3
   • Galatians 5:19-21
   • James 1:15
   • Romans 13:9
   • Malachi 3:8-9
   • Proverbs 18:21
   • Proverbs 6:2

6. How to be released

   A diagnosis is not a death sentence but a call to action, because the blood of Jesus makes it illegal for the enemy to torment a believer standing in his authority. For the week ahead he gives the steps: find a biblical basis for your release, confess your faith in Christ, commit to obey, confess any sin of your own or your ancestors and stop ancestral worship, forgive everyone who hurt you, renounce all contact with the occult and remove its objects, then release yourself and expect the blessing of Abraham. God wants everything handed over: the burden, the sickness, the fight and the hostile environment.

   Illustration: When the grandfather has stents and heart disease, then the son, then the grandson, that is not normal, and it can be broken.

   “The diagnosis or the curse is not a death sentence. It is a call to action.”

   • Galatians 3:13-14
   • 1 John 2:1

In this message