Wholeness | Unpacking The Weight To Run Free

 

Wholeness Series | Unpacking the Weight to Run Free | Pastor Zach Prosser

We pick up things in our lives much like a boat can pick up barnacles. Barnacles attach themselves to the hull of the boat slowing down the boat’s speed and affecting its appearance. Before you know it, the hull of our ship –our life-- is covered with barnacles that affect our ability to run free and our overall well-being.  The pathway to healthy spirituality requires us to face the critical elements: 

• The blessings and sins of our families going back two to three generations profoundly impact who we are today.
• Discipleship requires putting off the sinful patterns of our family and relearning how to do life God’s way in God’s family.

When the Bible uses the word “family,” it refers to our entire extended family over 3-4 generations. That means your family in the biblical sense includes all your brothers, sisters, uncles, aunts, grandparents, great-grandparents, great-uncles, and great-aunts going back to the mid-1800s. Our families are the most influential group to which we will ever belong. Even if you left home at an early age to “break free” from your family history. 

Exodus 20:4-6, ESV

You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands² of those who love me and keep my commandments.

Exodus 34:6-7, ESV

The LORD passed before him and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.”

2 Samuel 12:10, ESV

Now therefore the sword shall never depart from your house, because you have despised me and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.

Lessons From Abraham’s Family:

PATTERN OF LYING

• Abraham lied twice about Sarah.
• Isaac and Rebecca’s marriage was characterized by lies.
• Jacob lied to almost everyone; his name means “Deceiver.”
• Ten of Jacob’s children lied about Joseph’s death, faking a funeral, and keeping a “family secret” for more than 10 years.

PATTERN OF FAVORITISM

• Abraham favored Ishmael.
• Isaac favored Esau.
• Jacob favored Joseph and later Benjamin.

BROTHERS WERE CUT OFF FROM ONE ANOTHER IN EACH GENERATION

• Abraham separates from Lot (nephew); Lot goes to live in Sodom.
• Isaac and Ishmael
• Jacob fled his brother Esau and was cut off for years.
• Joseph was cut off from his brothers for more than a decade.

POOR MARRIAGES

• Abraham had a child with his servant Hagar. 
• Isaac had a terrible relationship with Rebecca.
• Jacob had two wives and two concubines. 

The patterns we pick up in life from our family often stem from the messages – either vocalized or observed—we receive.  What are some of the messages you’ve received over the years and have adapted into your behaviors?

• Money is the best source of security.
• You must make a lot of money to prove you’re somebody.
• Avoid conflict at all costs.
• Sadness is a sign of weakness.
• You owe your parents for all they’ve done for you.
• You don’t ask for help.
• Don’t talk about your problems.
• People will let you down.
• Do not marry a person of another race or culture.
• Success means you have to go the best school, have the best marriage and the best children.
• Feelings are not okay.
• The man is the primary breadwinner for the family.
• The woman is second to the man.
• You must achieve or perform to be loved.

 

The Results of Spiritual Rebirth: A New Way of Living

2 Corinthians 5:17, ESV

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.

Hebrews 10:19-20, ESV

Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, ²⁰ by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh

Colossians 3:10-11, The Passion Translation

For you have acquired new creation life which is continually being renewed into the likeness of the One who created you; giving you the full revelation of God. In this new creation life, your nationality makes no difference, nor your ethnicity, education, nor economic status—they matter nothing. For it is Christ that means everything as he lives in every one of us!

• God is our Father

1 Corinthians 8:6, The Passion

Yet for us there is only one God—the Father. Out of him is all things, and our lives are lived for him. And there is one Lord, Jesus, the Anointed One, through whom we and all things exist.

Ephesians 1:3, The Passion

Every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realm has already been lavished upon us as a love gift from our wonderful heavenly Father, the Father of our Lord Jesus—all because he sees us wrapped into Christ. This is why we celebrate him with all our hearts!

• Our Sins are Forgiven

1 John 1:9, The Passion

But if we freely admit our sins when his light uncovers them, he will be faithful to forgive us every time. God is just to forgive us our sins because of Christ, and he will continue to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Ephesians 1:7, The Passion

Since we are now joined to Christ, we have been given the treasures of redemption by his blood—the total cancellation of our sins—all because of the cascading riches of his grace.

• We are Given a New Spirit of Adoption

Ephesians 1:13, Amplified

In Him, you also, when you heard the word of truth, the good news of your salvation, and [as a result] believed in Him, were stamped with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit [the One promised by Christ] as owned and protected [by God].

Ezekiel 36:26-27, NIV

I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.

• An Always Present God

Hebrews 13:5-6, Amplified

Let your character [your moral essence, your inner nature] be free from the love of money [shun greed—be financially ethical], being content with what you have; for He has said, “I WILL NEVER [under any circumstances] DESERT YOU [nor give you up nor leave you without support, nor will I in any degree leave you helpless], NOR WILL I FORSAKE or LET YOU DOWN or RELAX MY HOLD ON YOU [assuredly not]!” So we take comfort and are encouraged and confidently say, “THE LORD IS MY HELPER [in time of need], I WILL NOT BE AFRAID. WHAT WILL MAN DO TO ME?”

Romans 8:31-39, The Passion

So, what does all this mean? If God has determined to stand with us, tell me, who then could ever stand against us? For God has proved his love by giving us his greatest treasure, the gift of his Son. And since God freely offered him up as the sacrifice for us all, he certainly won’t withhold from us anything else he has to give. Who then would dare to accuse those whom God has chosen in love to be his? God himself is the judge who has issued his final verdict over them—“Not guilty!” Who then is left to condemn us? Certainly not Jesus, the Anointed One! For he gave his life for us, and even more than that, he has conquered death and is now risen, exalted, and enthroned by God at his right hand. So how could he possibly condemn us since he is continually praying for our triumph? Who could ever divorce us from the endless love of God’s Anointed One? Absolutely no one! For nothing in the universe has the power to diminish his love toward us. Troubles, pressures, and problems are unable to come between us and heaven’s love. What about persecutions, deprivations, dangers, and death threats? No, for they are all impotent to hinder omnipotent love, even though it is written: All day long we face death threats for your sake, God. We are considered to be nothing more than sheep to be slaughtered! Yet even in the midst of all these things, we triumph over them all, for God has made us to be more than conquerors, and his demonstrated love is our glorious victory over everything! So now I live with the confidence that there is nothing in the universe with the power to separate us from God’s love. I’m convinced that his love will triumph over death, life’s troubles, fallen angels, or dark rulers in the heavens. There is nothing in our present or future circumstances that can weaken his love. There is no power above us or beneath us—no power that could ever be found in the universe that can distance us from God’s passionate love, which is lavished upon us through our Lord Jesus, the Anointed One!

• We have a New Name

Isaiah 56:5

To them I will give in My house and within My walls a memorial, and a name better than that of sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name which will not be cut off.

Revelation 2:17, The Passion

But the one whose heart is open, let him listen carefully to what the Spirit is presently saying to all the churches. To everyone who is victorious I will let him feast on the hidden manna and give him a shining white stone. And written upon the white stone is inscribed his new name, known only to the one who receives it.

• We are given an Inheritance
   

Charles Spurgeon

All that is in Christ is meant for all believers, and therefore all believers may have all that is in Christ, who is all in all. We should not be content with pence when he endows us with pounds. No child of God could ever yet say, "I have taken all that God can give me, and still I am wanting more." God all-sufficient is our heritage, and he more than fills our deepest need, our highest aspiration.

 

Romans 14:17, NKJV

For the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.

Hebrews 9:15, The Passion

So Jesus is the One who has enacted a new covenant with a new relationship with God so that those who accept the invitation will receive the eternal inheritance he has promised to his heirs. For he died to release us from the guilt of the violations committed under the first covenant.

• We have a New Family

1 John 3:1, The Passion

Look with wonder at the depth of the Father’s marvelous love that he has lavished on us! He has called us and made us his very own beloved children.

Ephesians 2:19-22, The Passion

So, you are not foreigners or guests, but rather you are the children of the city of the holy ones, with all the rights as family members of the household of God. You are rising like the perfectly fitted stones of the temple; and your lives have been built up together upon the foundation laid by the apostles and prophets, and best of all, you are connected to the Head Cornerstone of the building, the Anointed One, Jesus Christ himself! This entire building is under construction and is continually growing under his supervision until it rises up completed as the holy temple of the Lord himself. This means that God is transforming each one of you into the Holy of Holies, his dwelling place, through the power of the Holy Spirit living in you!

• We have Access

Romans 5:1-2, NIV

Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, ² through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God.

Access: The act of bringing to, a moving to, approach

Hebrews 10:21-22, The Passion

And since we now have a magnificent High Priest to welcome us into God’s house, we come closer to God and approach him with an open heart, fully convinced that nothing will keep us at a distance from him. For our hearts have been sprinkled with blood to remove impurity, and we have been freed from an accusing conscience. Now we are clean, unstained, and presentable to God inside and out!

• We have Eternal Hope

1 Peter 1:3-9, NASB

³ Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, ⁴ to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable, undefiled, and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, ⁵ who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. ⁶ In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, ⁷ so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which perishes though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ; ⁸ and though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, ⁹ obtaining as the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

 

Jonathan Edwards

By Christ's resurrection from the dead, the world has actually seen the other world, for they have seen a man after this life in another life; so the world has seen the future state in Christ accomplished by his resurrection from the dead, for his resurrection was his beginning of a future state.