So I asked her and enquired about her family background, and she began to tell her story to me. Her grandparents were missionaries in China, and they had two children – a daughter (which was her mother), and a son. They served the Lord in one province, and sent their children to another province. They sent them to a boarding school, but that province was overrun by the Japanese, and the school was taken over - and these were white, Western children. The girl was sexually abused by Japanese soldiers, over quite a long period of time. Eventually, the children were restored to their parents, and eventually they left China, and came and re-settled. The child grew up, got married, had a child, and the marriage broke up. So, we asked: “Are you willing to act on behalf of your family, and forgive these Japanese soldiers?” She said: “Yes, she would”.
So I led her in a very simple prayer, acknowledging her faith in Christ, and renouncing all of the sexual abuse that has come into the family life, and releasing forgiveness to the soldiers. When I commanded, unclean spirits just came out, with strong manifestation. Because we were aware of the nature of what had been done, I knew what to pray against. From that point on, her mind became clear, and she did not have the torment in her mind. She did not have these unclean sexual images - they were the product of a spirit of perversion, which had entered years before, into the family line.
So we’ve seen many other people, over the years, set free of spirits that were generational in nature. So, that’s why we want to have a look at this area and understand it. The first thing we see is a Bible example of a demonised child, and then we’ve seen a couple of personal stories. Now we want to have a look at this whole area.
First, I’m going to look at Galatians 3 - I want us to see what Christ has done. Galatians 3:13-14 says: “13 Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”), 14 that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.
So we notice very clearly in the scripture, that one work that Christ did on the cross, was to redeem us from cursing. The purpose of redeeming us from cursing is to bring us in to blessing. So God wants to move us from being in a place of cursing, into a place of blessing. Specifically, he wants to remove all curses from our breaking of the law of God. Notice in verse 14, God’s purpose is that blessing would come upon us, that we might receive the promise of the spirit.
So the Holy Spirit working in our life is the source of blessing. Blessing means favour. Blessing means fruitfulness. Blessing means the flow of the life of God. So God’s plan is to bring us, or position us, so we live a blessed life. So we need to understand - there’s absolutely no doubt here - God’s desire is for a blessed life, and our cooperating with the Holy Spirit is the cause of that blessed life. It is the life of faith in the spirit, that is a blessed life. Notice as the blessing of Abraham come upon the Gentiles in Christ; so God’s blessing on Abraham is fulfilled in Jesus. So when we identify with Jesus, and live with Him and identify with Him - that is the way blessing is released.
So blessing comes out of identifying with Jesus Christ, and aligning with his life. It comes out of living as a new-creation person in Christ. God’s blessing came upon His son Jesus Christ, and when I identify with Him, I am blessed. So when you become a Christian, you identify with Jesus Christ and His death, burial and resurrection - you are already positioned for blessing. You are blessed because of your relationship with Christ; and not because of all the things you do.
One danger is that, having come to Christ, we go back under the law. I am blessed because I identify with Christ; it’s not because of what I do. Otherwise, you come back under the law: if you do this you’re blessed; if you don’t’ do it, you’re cursed. Jesus has redeemed us from the curse of the law. In other words, He has paid the full price. His work on Calvary was enough to break the power of all cursing.
When Jesus died on the cross, He fully satisfied the demands of God. When Jesus died on the cross, we died with Him - and a dead man can’t be affected by curses. So notice He says: He redeemed us from the curse of the law; having become a curse for us. So on the cross, Jesus represented us. The nature of His death, hanging on a tree - in the Bible God said a person hanging on a tree is cursed.
So hundreds of years before the Romans invented crucifixion, God planned how we would be set free from cursing. He set a law in motion: if the person is hung on a tree, that person is cursed. So when Jesus was hung on a tree - He became a curse for us; and redeemed us from the curse of the law.
The power behind curses is demonic spirits. The power behind the curse is a demonic spirit. A curse is a spiritual force that works against us. A curse is an unseen spiritual force, that’s powered by an evil spirit; and it continues until the curse is broken. A curse is an unseen, or invisible, destructive force; that is empowered by evil spirits; and it continues until the curse is broken. Hence, we find many people struggling with the consequences of curses, in spite of the fact that Jesus has already redeemed them. It’s like the devil is making an illegal claim against them, so we have to enforce on the evil spirits what Jesus has done.