Shane Idleman discusses the doctrine of man, focusing on sin and the generational curse, emphasizing that while sin is passed down through the Adamic nature, believers are not cursed but rather have the opportunity for redemption through Christ. He highlights the importance of understanding our identity as being made in the image of God and the implications of sin on our lives, including the physical, emotional, and spiritual aspects. Idleman also addresses the misconceptions surrounding generational curses, urging believers to seek wisdom and stewardship over their lives and bodies, while ultimately pointing to the hope found in Jesus for breaking the curse of sin.

This sermon is very going to be interesting because I'm going to talk about the doctrine of man, sin and the curse. Have you ever heard the phrase generational curse? And you have some on the conservative side, right, who won't ever say that, right, because it just brings in too many weird things. And then you have those on the hyper-charismatic side that it's all about generational curses, right? You've just got to break that generational curse, brother. You've just got to break that sugary problem you have. That's a generational curse. You've got to break that curse. So who's right? Well, let's look at what the Bible says and find out where that middle ground is, because I think sometimes we're saying the same thing, but it depends on who is saying it that really adds credentials to it, right? Like I said before, if you've got John MacArthur say something and somebody else in the charismatic movement say the exact same thing, this guy will be put down, there'll be blogs written about him and they'll make fun of him. But they say the exact same thing, word for word, because it's how we look at the messenger often. So I'm going to actually recommend John MacArthur's new systematic theology on biblical doctrine if you want more information on this area. It's pretty thick. That's where I pulled some of these things from. I have four or five different ones I use, but I chose his on this one. But let's look first at Genesis 1.26, and we can see the doctrine of man, which I could camp out there for a month. The doctrine of man, the fall, depravity, creation, redemption, I mean, there's a whole bunch there. But I'm going to focus on made in the image of God and generational curses or sin as a curse. We'll get to that in a minute. Then God said, Genesis 1.26, I think we have it up there. Then God said, let us make man in our image. So who's God talking to there? Himself? I mean, wouldn't that be weird if there wasn't a trinity? Let us make, and you can look up that word, I believe it's Elohim. It's a plural nature of God. And that's where we get the concept of the trinity, where say Muslims wouldn't, or I don't want to misspeak here, but I believe Jehovah Witness, different groups, they deny the aspect of the trinity. The reason often is because they think there's three gods. We don't worship three gods either. The Bible says, Hear, O Israel, the Lord your God is one. But within that, there is a triune nature. Trying to understand that on this side of heaven is going to be difficult, but we know that it's taught. Because when Jesus was baptized, the Father spoke, and the Holy Spirit descended upon Him as a dove. That's not just allegory. That happened. And so God says, let us make man in our image, talking about the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit, and according to our likeness. Now this really struck me this week, because you are created in God's likeness, in His image. No matter how depressed you might be, young adult, if you hear this later, or somebody thinking about taking their life, you are committed, you are created in the image of God, in the likeness of God. Every single person. That's why we have a real big problem with abortion. Because it's not up to us to determine who lives and who dies that is innocent. That we're created in God's image. So God said, let us make man in our image. Now, what exactly that means, good luck on that one as well. Right? People said body, soul, and spirit. Trinity, triune. I'm going to hopefully impact that in a minute, but there's a lot there. And I don't want to get off on too many rabbit trails. So let us create man. See, I can't even get through the first sentence. The first verse. Let us make man in our image according to our likeness. Let them, who, you, us, have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth, and over every single creeping thing that creeps on the earth. So man, created in God's image, is have dominion, like God has dominion. He gave us a lower level, obviously, of dominion over His creation. That's why animals and trees and men, man, is not, we're not the same. You know, the New Age movement, and we're all, God's in all of us, and the, you know, we need to protect the spotted owl as much as the aborted fetus, and all these things, and we don't see that. We see there's a domination, not being evil, but to steward. It's funny, because people say, Christians, why aren't you concerned about the environment? I'm very concerned about the environment. When we go camping, I don't leave plastic and trash all over. We actually try to take with us more than we brought. Christians should be the best at stewarding God's wonderful creation. But we also don't get off on tangents and begin to worship Mother Earth and forget about Father God. There's an area there where we have to have dominion. So God gave us this dominion. Then He said, so God created man in His own image. I hate to break the bad news, but you weren't created first. It seems like that we were created last, right? God got the universe, the planet ready for us. So God created man in His own image. In the image of God, He created him. He made them male and female. He created them. So this is another area where we don't believe that things such as transgenderism or a male-female something in the middle. Now, they have a name for it. I think at the DMV, you can say whatever that middle thing is. You don't have to claim that. That's just a perversion of God's design. Now, it doesn't mean people don't struggle with that. And I've talked to people. They struggle with, what's wrong with me? I feel this. Why was I created a man? I feel like being a woman. And there's a great sympathy for that. But that's your predisposition in the sin area. Another could be struggling with something else, and another struggling with something else. See, it's all part of the Adamic nature of the curse. There's different areas, but it doesn't mean that God's design is wrong. It doesn't mean that, well, I was born a male, but now I can become a female, and that's okay. See, that's where we get a lot of the concepts from political issues or hot-button issues is from the Word of God. We look to that as the primary gauge of what is true. So let's think about this for a minute. Image, oh, then God, I'm sorry, verse 28. Then God blessed them, and God said to them, To man and woman, be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth. Subdue it, have dominion over the fish of the sea. Over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth. So have dominion, be fruitful, multiply. So image, what does that mean? Be made in the image of God. Well, it's interesting, this word can mean a copy or a representation of. So obviously we know we're not God, right? Little gods, like the Mormons would believe that. That God was once like us. I just don't even like saying this, but I'm gonna say it. That God was once like us, and that God became who he is now by following a certain amount of moral codes and different things. And that we will be like God someday. If that's not blasphemy, I don't know what is. There's no scriptural support. Zero scriptural support for that. That we will someday be like God, and God was once like us. So it's not teaching that, but a copy of, meaning the same. Could it be emotions? The mind, the think, intellect, relational. All these areas where we are like God in certain areas. We're in his nature. Especially as believers, right? You have the Holy Spirit in you, so you have the nature of God in you. The nature of Christ in you. So that's what an image is. It means a copy or a representation of. So it could be, are we representing God here on earth as believers? We should be. We are God's representative. We are his ambassador. We say this is what the image of God should look like. I fall all the time. And then when you fall and you ask somebody for forgiveness, you're showing the heart of God that you're broken and humble and teachable. This is why the sanctity of human life is so important, as I alluded to earlier. There's also a relational aspect. There's a relational aspect to know God. And to have dominion over things. Now, don't miss the most important aspect of living. And I'll tell this to anybody who's not even a Christian. The most important aspect of living your life on this planet is to have a relationship with the living God. That's the most important thing. Can you imagine? I think of these guys who die and they're famous atheists or famous agnostics or they curse God or even different religions who truly don't. They live their whole life. However long that was, without a relationship with the living God. That's the most important aspect of life. So let's talk about this for a minute. The doctrine of man. Man is body, soul, and spirit. Here we go. Now, there is a division in the church on this. Again, not a big deal because it's not essentials. But is there body, soul, and spirit? Three different things. The body, we live in a body. The soul is our intellect, our emotions, our being who we are. And then is there a spiritual side that's third, that's separate? Well, here's what we do know from the Bible. And I'm going to get to that in a minute. Let me just talk first about the body. Man is body. Basically, this is a shell. Is it not? So when people say, oh, Billy Graham died. What did he say? Don't tell people I died. I just began. Because the shell is buried and goes back dust to dust, ashes to ashes. The old saying that happens at many funerals is so true. Because it goes back. The shell goes back to where it was created. Back to the ground. But the soul nature of man continues to live on. So this is why this area, I believe, is so important. And this is why. Well, let me talk about here. The body. I'm trying to bring my rabbit trails into submission. The body. When we talk about the doctor of man, the body, there are two extremes we need to avoid. The first extreme is too much emphasis on it. Right? Paul said bodily exercise profits you little. Spiritual things are what's important. And people put too much emphasis on that. I can fall in that category, as can many people. Right? Too much emphasis. Too much emphasis. Well, as we all know, what's the other extreme? Zero emphasis. It doesn't matter. It's all about spiritual things, brother. Well, that's great. But for 80 years, I've got this shell that I've got to do the spiritual things in. So why would we neglect one or the other? So we live in a body. And God renewed my passion in this area. For example, I've talked about this before, but I feel it's important to say it again. If we allow, say, addictions to control our attitude and productivity, will it hinder what we do for God? Yes, it will. When we're always dealing with stress, anxiety, and sickness, can we do much for God? So I believe, personally, that one of the ways the enemy attacks us is in our body. Because no matter what you believe, I think we can all agree that as a child of God, the enemy is going to go after our productivity. He could care less if you come to church on Sunday, you sit here, you hear this, you go home, you have lunch, you put on the television, and that's your weekly routine. You never touch a person for Christ. You never witness. You never lead anybody to the Lord. You never go out and serve. You don't do anything. You're off the hit list. He's got you right where he wants you because you're not productive. It's the productive Christians that he's after. So why wouldn't he go after our productivity? Go after us in this area and stop us silencing the voice? Yes, he can do it from death, but he can also do it from making the body in an inactive state. So let me talk about this for a minute. Does your mood affect productivity and quality of life? Does your mood affect productivity and quality of life? How you feel. Right? I don't feel like going to church. Sound familiar? I hope the 11 a.m. is more honest because I know. I know. Many of us go through, I don't feel like going to church. I don't feel like going to the Wednesday night study. I don't feel like going to the hospital homes and ministering to people. I don't feel like witnessing to Christ in the store. I don't feel like talking to my neighbor who probably doesn't know the Lord. I don't feel like... Do you ever wonder how many things we don't do for the Lord because of that? We don't feel like it and we won't do it. Well, what do you feel like? I feel like a big lunch and some NASCAR. Well, wonderful. That will be very productive for the Lord. Now, again, not knocking lunch and NASCAR, right? It's all about priorities. Priorities. Think about this. Okay, now since we're talking about the body, have you heard of serotonin, dopamine, glutamate, and noradrenaline? You've heard of all those, right? Do you know what they are? They're God-given chemicals given to you to allow you to experience life. They're God-given. God gave us these things. Serotonin. Relaxing. Does anybody want to relax or sleep well? What about dopamine? Pleasure. Pleasure. Glutamate. Taking away the cognitive behavioral and the right thinking. Noradrenaline, how we handle stress. See, if he just took all of these away, you would sit here like a corpse. You would have no emotion, no relaxation, nothing. So these things affect the body. So when you don't feel like it, many times, that has to do with how we're taking care of the body. It always goes together. Now, obviously, there are those on the mission field. The movie we watched last night, I have a feeling they could care less about what I'm talking about because they're just trying to survive, right, obviously. But there are most of us, when we're given this gift from God to steward it correctly, it will affect many areas of life. Many areas of life. So the doctrine of man, the body, the body. We can't always blame an attack on the enemy, right. I haven't felt like going to church all week. I haven't felt like serving. That enemy is on me. Maybe, maybe, but it could be within. The Puritans used to say the greatest enemy we have is within. We're all worried about the devil, but I'm worried about the devil within. So this area of body, it's your, basically, it's how you live for Christ. The spirit, the soul works through your body. And how we're representative of Christ. And then second, we have the soul. The soul. This is our distinct personality. Okay, who you are. If I say such and such, they are moody. Oh, we're on that topic, right. Does anybody call you moody? Or, oh, I know such and such. They are this. They are this. It's their soul. It's who they are. In the Hebrew language, it's nefesh. You've heard me say this before. God breathed into man, and he became a living nefesh, a living being, a living soul. And in the Greek, the word is psuche. It's actually spelled like psychology, but it's not pronounced that way. Psuche. It's the soul. It's who we are. So we have body. I have a soul within me. Right? It's who I am. Now, this is said to be the part of the body, believe it or not, that is eternal. And people say, well, hold on. I thought the spirit was eternal. Well, hold on. Spirit and soul are often interchangeable in the Bible. That's why it's difficult. You would like a verse? Okay, I'll give you one. Thank you. Isaiah 26.9. Isaiah 26.9. With my soul, with my soul, with my nefesh, I have desired you in the night. Yes, by my spirit within me, I seek you early. Now, if you want to get real confused, heart comes in there as well. Love God with all your soul, with all your heart. Well, is there a difference? So you see, we have this body, this soul. Don't worry, I'm not going to get dogmatic here. I don't know if man is triune in the body, soul, and spirit. I do know that soul and spirit are connected together often in the Bible. Heart. Heart means, well, we all know, the governing aspect of the body that controls conduct. So when God says, wrench your hearts, not your garments, right? Break your hearts, not your garments. Come to me with fasting and prayer, weeping that you may break your heart. The heart governs our actions. And guess where we get that word from in the Greek? Have you heard of a cardiologist? So it's cardia, but it's spelled with a K, not with a C. Cardiology, it's cardia. It's our heart. So now you've got body, you've got soul, you've got spirit, you've got heart. What's going on here? Well, we know that it's all intertwined somehow. Mark 12 30, and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. And I don't know if we can separate them, can we? Have you ever said this? Shane, this week I've just, I've loved God so much with all my heart. Oh, I'm on fire for God, but my mind is a mess. That's not possible. But my strength is out the door. I haven't been to any passion, I haven't had any desire to do anything. But my heart, they're all interwoven. There's the whole man, that's why the whole being worships God. The whole of us, body, soul, and spirit worship God. I think more people would worship God more if their dopamine levels were high. Right? There's this pleasure. That's why people worship God. I'm not going to pull any blood out and test it right now. We don't have a laboratory, but I'm wondering if those who are worshiping God have higher levels of dopamine. Right? I mean, this is, God created this stuff for a reason. Can you imagine, well, let me just remove dopamine. And you go to the hospital, Shane, your wife just delivered. That's great. Oh, well, here's number four. You're getting $5,000 back on your taxes. All right. Whatever. I mean, can you imagine living life like that? I can't. So these things are God-given. God-given things. So the spirit, then, is number three. This refers to our interaction with God. Body, soul, spirit, heart, all these things. This refers, the spirit refers to our relationship with God. Now, you want to get a little bit more technical and a little bit more confusing, here's another word. Pneuma. That's the word for spirit. So you've got pneuma, cardia, psuche, and nephesh. Greek, Hebrew, all these. They're all different words. And this is pneuma. It's where we get the word pneumatic, right? For pneumatic tools. It's of the air. It means pneumatology is the study of the Holy Spirit. So we're body, soul, and pneuma. Spirit. There's this aspect, the spiritual side relates to God. The Holy Spirit in me and the spiritual side of man are joined together. So now you understand the body, soul, and spirit, right? No confusion. All good. No questions at all. Well, welcome to my world. Because I had lots of questions. Even commentators are divided. You know, men of God, I look up to. It's like, well, no, man is three. Body, soul, and spirit. Well, what about this? What about this? And we just have to know that the Bible teaches that we are body, soul, spirit. Our heart's important. The spiritual health is important. And we don't know quite how that works exactly. But now the next part of the message. Sin and the curse. Is there generational curses? Half the audience says yes. Half the audience says no. Well, let's see what the Bible says. A little bit later in Genesis 3, chapter 3, verse 1. It says, now the serpent, Satan, right? Was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord had made. And he said to the woman. He said to the woman, has God indeed said, you shall not eat of every tree of the garden? So did God say, here's the first indication of you know where this guy's going. This little rascal. He always twists scripture. God didn't say that. God didn't say you can't eat of anything in this garden. He actually said eat of anything freely. But of this tree you don't eat. Always remember this. Satan will attack in this area of twisting. Did God really say? You know what, that's right. And your mind, right? You start to backslide. You know what, that's right. I don't think God really meant that. I don't think he. I've. Oh, I'm not going to get in that row, Joe. I could be there a while. It'll be convicting. It'll be convicting. Well, I'm going to do it then. I've had. You would not believe in this area that I've been talking about often is fasting. Right? Prayer and fasting. Fasting. So many people have told me over the last year or so. I've had such a desire to fast. I knew God was. Oh, it was just resonating with me. And I ran into them a couple weeks later or whenever. No, I decided not to do that. I just. Thoughts were coming to me like, is that really biblical anymore? Do I need to? I mean. I don't really need to do that. That's for. You know. Prayers are being answered. I don't want to get carried away. I've got hyperglycemia. I'm on medication. I'm a diabetic. And I can't do any of those things. So see that comes in. Now you have to be careful. Right? Of course. I'm not. I'm not stupid. Naive. But the enemy. When God wants you to do something. I feel led to do this with God. The enemy. Did God really tell you to do that? Did he really tell you? I mean, I've seen men broken. Over their failed marriage. In the church. God's breaking them. God's word's clear. And they're convicted. And that same person now is divorced and living with his girlfriend. Because the enemy gets in. That's. That's right. Shane is a little loud. Right? He's a little too. He's crazy. He's extreme. I don't want to get that crazy. That extreme. I don't want to love my wife to the death. I don't. I deserve. Here we go. Here we go. This Satan's just having a field day. He does it in my mind, doesn't he? As well as yours. He'll. Did God really say? Because for many Christians, we know what's right and wrong. Right? Many people. But. So he'll twist a little bit. He'll twist things. So that's what the enemy's doing with her. Has God really said you shall not eat of every tree? And the woman said to the serpent, we may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden. But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, you shall not eat it. Nor shall you touch it, lest you die. Then the serpent said to the woman, you will not die. Who are we trusting again? For God knows that in the day you eat of it, your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil. He appealed to her fleshly nature to be like God. Oh, God didn't. No, no, no, no. He. Here's another trick. This. This is so obvious. He will always tell you that God doesn't want what's best for you. He's got. No, no, no. God's holding back from you. Right. Young adults who are dating the devil say God just doesn't want you to have fun moving together. Try out the vehicle before you buy it. Right. See if you're really compatible. Try. The enemy will tell you. No, no. God doesn't want you to have fun. You're going to have to stop doing that and stop. Who hasn't heard this in their mouth? You have to stop doing that. Stop doing that. Come become some rigid Christian who can't have any fun. That's whispers from Satan. Whispers from Satan. Because anytime you give up things that God has told you to give up, there is freedom. There's joy unspeakable. Serotonin and dopamine levels are really increased when you begin to obey God. Have you noticed that? Are you joy-filled as a Christian when you're in disobedience? Absolutely not. We have to stop believing this lie. So the enemy is right there. He's got her again. No, God's not right. I'm right. And when you taste that fruit, you will know what is good and evil. So when the woman saw that the tree was what? Good for food, that it was pleasant to the eye, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. And I've said this before. I'm not going to go on a long rabbit trail here. But these are the same ways Satan's going to go after you and after me. When the woman saw that it was good for food, right? I'm pretty sure it wasn't a broccoli plant. Right? Probably a pomegranate, apple. There's pictures. We don't know. We just know that this fruit... By the way, they didn't have sugar back then. So probably what this was was good, right? Compared to... We don't want fruit now because we've got things that are supposedly much better. But so she took of this fruit, lust of the flesh, and it looked really good. I don't think it had a couple of worms coming out of it and decay. Right? So it looked good. It was going to taste good. And it was going to make her wise. The pride of life. That's where he's always working. Worked in Jesus the same way. Jesus fasting. Hey, just turn those stones into bread. The lust of the flesh. Let me take you up to the pinnacle and show you everything. Right? Pride of life. Cast yourself down. Actually, when he's up on the pinnacle, let me show you everything. Right? Lust of the eye. Oh, I can have all of this? He already had all of it. So the enemy will go after you in these ways. So she saw it, she took of it, and she gave it to her husband, and he ate. Then the eyes of both of them were open, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings. So they died spiritually, not physically. Yet. Right? They died spiritually. Now, interesting topic. We also believe, many people believe, that at this point something happened in the DNA of man. Something triggered where now man was no longer to live eternally with God. But now sin, disease entered. Right? Deoxyribonucleic acid. DNA for those. Right? Science minds here. Something happened in us that now we are, instead of living eternally, we are dying. It's funny. There's studies. I guess not funny, but interesting. A person is growing. Right? A baby. And at a certain age, the growth stops, and the deterioration begins. Something happened there. And most would agree at this point that God's image in us was damaged. Was it not? Norman Geisler, who's a theologian, says God's image was effaced. Damaged, but it's not erased. And that's different as well, because some people think, well, now God's image is erased. It's gone. No, it's damaged. It's marred. Christ, again, on the cross, coming and repairing that damage. So think about this. Was sin found in Adam and Eve before the fall? Was sin in Adam and Eve before the fall? Well, God created them perfect, right? So what happened? I mean, think about this. I'm getting somewhere theologically. Was sin in Adam before the fall? Or was it the ability to sin was in them? Because we know they were made perfect. We know they were made right. But the ability was in them to sin, because they sinned. I don't think anybody would disagree with that. So where I'm going with this now is if a person is able to repent and believe, some would say a person can't because that's a good thing. They are good. Good is found in them. Or is the ability to exercise faith neutral? So sin wasn't found in Adam, but just because a person repents and believes doesn't mean that's a good work. Did God give them the ability to accept or reject his offer of salvation? And, of course, I'm talking now about Calvinism and Arminianism. For you, those who follow this, one would say that man can't repent and believe because there's nothing good in him. Well, there was nothing evil in Adam, but he still sinned. So I wouldn't look at a person believing, being able to exercise faith and believe and repent as a good work. I would look at it as a gracious God who created man to accept or reject his gift. But that will get into some heated debates at some point, I'm sure. But we all miss the mark of God's righteousness, right? Romans 3.23. An interesting word. Hamartiology is the study of sin. And that word comes from a Greek word meaning a fatal flaw leading to the downfall of a hero. So we see in us, in this fall, in this... That's why it's called the Adamic nature or the curse of Adam. Because whatever happened in Adam and Eve now is passed on to us. Probably in the DNA, probably in the makeup because it's being passed down. Now, the origin of the soul. This could take me another hour, but I'm going to try to sum it up. The origin of the soul. This is interesting. Did your soul always exist? Your soul always exists out there somewhere in the galaxies and then finally God put it in a body. It's called pre-existence. Or at birth, was your soul created? That's called creationism. And then the third view, which MacArthur embraces, and I would probably lean towards it, is traducianism. The soul is transmitted from parent to child just like the body is. Now this gets interesting because does God out of thin air create a soul, a spirit, and put it in the body? But his work of creation ended after six days. You won't see anything else created out of nothing. Creation ceased. So does God, and again I don't get dogmatic because I'm not a bioengineer or whatever they call it, biochemist. What do they call those? Researching 3.2 billion strands of DNA. I just don't have the time. You might. But it's something interesting. There's something when a child is born, when that life at conception begins, it's body, soul, and spirit. You're thinking of the verse I was thinking of. You formed my inner parts, you knit me together in my mother's womb. Now God is ultimately the cause, but he allows the natural process of DNA to transfer, is what John MacArthur would say. So God is the author of creation, but he allows the natural process of DNA, how God created us, to come together, the woman, the man, the chromosomes, right? You know, this is biology 101 that I flunked, but you probably didn't. But they come together, and this wonderful thing that nobody can explain, life begins at conception. So you have the DNA, the DNA of the father, so are those predispositions, those certain areas of sin, the sin nature, the mood, the facial features, they're all passed down in the DNA. Something I looked into studying DNA a little bit, this is interesting. A bioengineer and geneticist at Harvard's Wyss Institute, very, very high up institute, he has successfully stored 5.5 petabits of data, which is around 700 terabytes, which is 1 million megabytes. Is that a lot, you computer people? Is a million megabytes a lot? He has successfully stored 1 million megabytes of information in a single gram of DNA. It's a lot more than this. Smashing the previous DNA data density record by a thousand times. In one gram of DNA, there's so much stored information, it just makes me worship God more. I don't know about you. It just makes, it's unbelievable what happened. So let me answer the question before we run out of time. Generational curses, is there a generational curse? Well, let's read the Bible. The Bible mentions generational curses in Exodus 20, Exodus 34, Numbers 14, Deuteronomy 5. Basically God says this, God warned that he is a jealous God. He said, I am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sins of the fathers to the third and fourth generation. That's what, have you ever heard that preached and read and different things and people use it? Hey, it says, it says, Shane, just like you said. He is going to punish the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation. And what you have to say at that point is, okay, keep reading. Right, keep reading. Here's what it says, of those who hate me, of those who hate me. So nations, he's writing to nations, there are people, that sin is going to be passed down from each generation, from the father to the son, from the father to the son to the grandson, from those who hate him. Now something interesting pops up in Ezekiel 18, 20, that God will no longer punish the child for the father. So we did used to see that the sins of the father would definitely affect the family, would it not? One story I just have a hard time with sometimes, and not because I don't believe God, of course I believe God, but just in our human nature, we have a hard time understanding the man, the sin of Achan, right? He stole this treasure from this city that was, I believe it was Jericho. And when they found out that he stole the idols and things, his whole family was brought out in stone to death. It wasn't uncommon for a man and his family to be killed. And God would hold them responsible. So in Ezekiel we do learn that God will no longer punish the child for the father, or the father for the children's actions, thank God. Right? So here's what happens. Sin is passed down. Sin is passed down. It is. The Adamic nature, the sin of the father is passed down. But the curse on us is broken when a person believes. So I don't believe a Christian has to deal with and say, oh generational curses, my grandfather, my dad. However, I do believe that there's a propensity to sin in that area. Is there not? Often what your father struggle with or your mother struggle with, do we struggle with the same things? It's often passed down. Sometimes it's not. I mean a person will see a terrible alcoholic in their father and say, I'm never touching alcohol. And they do fine. But how do we know if that drink isn't taken, that trigger begins, and that DNA, and they're going in that direction of the sins of their parents. And it's not just sin. Here's what I want to talk about for a minute. And it's not just sin, but everything identified with the fall, such as disease, can be passed down as well. Have you ever heard this? Do you have a family history of? Oh, I bet you have, right? Do you have a family history of? So to answer the question, is there a curse that's being passed down from Adam? Absolutely. What's the point of the cross? But Christians shouldn't get all worked up in this and say, oh, it's a generational curse. I've got to keep breaking. I've got to keep breaking. It might be a stronghold in your life. It might be a predisposition to sin in this area. But you're not cursed of God. The Adamic nature has been passed down. But as a believer, you don't have to come. I've seen so many Christians, but Shane, I think it's my generational curse. I have to live with this. No, you don't. Now, there could be a struggle. It's going to be difficult, right? And here's what I want to do. I told you last week I was going to bring in a little bit more sometimes of physical, because I think the body, soul, and spirit are connected. I'm going to give you a personal example, something I've had to struggle with for quite a while. And I've heard from people and doctors and different things. There's a pattern in my family of heart disease. And that's, of course, been on my mind right as a little kid, seeing it take my grandparents, my father, and those close to me. I remember my dad actually died of a heart attack on 35th East, out by Lancaster Baptist. My grandfather, over by the new library on M2 by 50th. And my grandma, on Avenue N, ran her car off the road, died of a heart attack. So is that predisposition there? Is that... Now, here's the thing. You don't worry about it. You're like, oh my goodness. And doctors say, you know what, Shane, you've got to really watch this area. Yeah, no kidding. And that's funny. That's what cracks me up in my wife sometimes. But people think, oh, Shane, he's so healthy. He'll live to be 100. No, I'm not. I kept Taco Bell in business for 10 years. You know what hydraulic fluid is that you put in tractors? I used to put that on my skin as tanning oil when I was 18, 19, because it worked really good. I drank more alcohol than most sailors. So this is just, you know, God's just sustaining here. I don't know what the future holds. So it just cracks me up. But I do know that he's called me back to be a better steward of the gift, what we talked about before. But so this runs in the family pattern. It's there. So I believe I'm called to use wisdom. To be forewarned is to be forearmed. Okay, I mean, I think I can see where this might be an open door. So I need to use caution here. I need to use wisdom. I can't relate to the person who struggles sometimes with something else. So what does all this mean? Well, recently I did blood work again. And it was, the doctor said, hey, Shane, there's high LDL levels you need to watch out for. Have you heard that before? Cholesterol, LDL levels. LDL is low-density lipoproteins. It's basically where the fat and the protein molecules bind together in the blood. So a high LDL, which is a high, low-density lipoproteins are in my blood. What those do is they actually go and they can stick to the arteries in the blood vessels. And they form narrowing of the arteries. Hence, what happens? Heart attack. Right, so I'm thinking, oh, that's great news. Because it just lines up with exactly what I've been, you know, people have told me. Now, the funny thing is, which it's called bad cholesterol. Right, bad cholesterol. Now, I don't think, I could spend 20 minutes on the importance of cholesterol. There's not bad cholesterol. What happens is there's bad food that we consume that causes the blood vessels to break and arteries to break and tear and rip. It's called inflammation. So the more we do this, the more the high-density lipids need to go and protect that area. So is it those that are causing the damage? Or the food that's causing the damage? See, so you have to use wisdom here. And then the HDL, the high-density lipids, what are known as the good guy, supposedly go and they pull those away from the arteries to help clean that area. So this is just an area I have to use wisdom in, have to use caution in. But did God mess up? Why is it called bad food instead of bad cholesterol? Because that's how it works. And there's something you'll probably hear often. Oxidation. Oxidation. Or oxidative stress. Have you heard that term lately? Oxidative stress. Free radicals. All these things, what they mean is the bad guys are winning. The body is in such a toxic state that now these free radicals are being released. Damage is being done to the body. And this damage is done to the heart, to the arteries and different things. The cholesterol and different things goes and it begins to help and repair those areas. So in a nutshell, this is an area where I want to use wisdom. And I want to help in this area. I want to look to God for wisdom and strength. And this is why actually there's a big debate out there. You know, who do you believe? Forks over Nyes or the meat and dairy? Right, who do you believe? What's going on here? And so that's why you'll see a debate in this area. And there are major negative effects of low cholesterol as well. I'm not going to get into that. I just want to show you how a personal example of the fall being passed down from parents and something that now I am predispositioned to possibly struggle with or be an area where there should be a little bit of wisdom. But again, we don't lose sleep over it if God chooses to do what he does. But I believe, and this is where I step on toes, I believe that we are called to steward our bodies better than what we are. I'm going to make a dramatic statement here. But why is this so important? Why is this so important, Shane? Because the majority of health issues that we are praying for are self-created. I'm convinced of that. Now, the people upset at that statement will say, He said all. No, no. All is A-L-L. Not all. The majority. The majority. Who are you looking to get wisdom? For example, this is where I get so mad sometimes. But people, they go in and the doctor says, Here's a statin drug. They should say, Tell me about your lifestyle. Right? Because the statin drug goes in, tells the liver to stop producing cholesterol. Not good. Not good. And to add insult to injury, let me read, since you probably don't believe what I'm saying, maybe. The Mayo Clinic and Harvard Medical School, I've been reading, said statins can cause severe muscle pain, liver damage, kidney failure, and death. I might just deal with high cholesterol, right? So you see, anytime you begin to alter and twist what God has done, where are you getting your information from? Yes, there's a time and a place for it. Of course. We're not naive. But many times we are responsible for our health condition. And also, this is a $26 billion a year industry. Did you catch that? Just on statins. $26 billion a year industry. So where are we getting information from? We're going to stop the liver's production of good cholesterol, what God has ordained, and we're going to continue down a destructive lifestyle and eat a bunch of garbage and not take care of our body and then go and take something that causes more damage. It makes no sense because we're not going to God for wisdom in these areas. Now again, people say, are you against it? No, I'm not. But you should ask, am I creating this? Am I creating this? Because if you're creating it, you can often stop it with God's help. Again, we don't put all this emphasis on the body. But how many people out there are unproductive for God because they're not stewarding this wonderful gift He's given? That's the bottom line. What kind of example for our children? What kind of heritage are we leaving? What kind of legacy are we leaving? Yes, this is convicting. It's convicting so we make change. What's the point? All right, let me get back on track and I'll close. This is so funny. Everything I just talked about for 10 minutes has been a big struggle in my life because I've known God has been wanting me to talk more about it and I've shut my mouth for a decade. And every time I talk about it, I can show you emails this long from people being helped and transformed and set free. One lady was crying so much on Wednesday night because this has helped her regain her passion for God when she focused on the physical and fixing it and getting rid of the addictions. Another lady came up, she said, Shane, let me give you a hug. I've been off statins a week and I have no more pain. So you want me to shut my mouth because it offends people? Or we truly want to help people? What do we want to do? This book I'm writing on, I'm contemplating and I guess I'll just throw it out there. I'm not even going to put a price tag on it. Free. To whoever wants it, get it out there. Free. Publishers will say, that's the stupidest idea you have ever heard of. I don't care. This is not an ulterior motive. I don't need to make money from anything like that. No, I've probably got to hold myself to it, right? But when you're making barcodes, what's the price? We've got to put it on the barcode. I don't know. I just want to get it out. We can't do that. Nobody can make any money. That's right, but people are going to be helped. Can you imagine an e-book that is free? They're out there. But my personal struggle, I feel strongly, strongly in this area because I'm praying for people week in and week out, week in and week out and God is telling me, talk to them about their diet and their physical. No, I'm not going there. I'll just pray for their autoimmune disease. I'll just pray for their heart disease. I'll just pray for their blood cholesterol. And I know what they need to be doing. I know what they need to be doing. But because of cowardness or not. Because what happens is I'll get e-mails from people, or even at church they'll come up and say, Brother, brother, you know that's not important. Bodily exercise profits little, man. Come on, it doesn't matter. Is that your fourth donut? No, hold on. Have you ever been to a hospital? Oh, no, I don't have time for that. When was the last time you led a person to the Lord? Well, 1976 when I was getting out of boot camp. Hold on. You mean it's all about spiritually being fed. But you have no energy, no motivation to go out and help others. See, this affects the spiritual. And I don't care if ten people leave, I'm committed to tell you the truth. Unless you make changes in this area, you might be praying for things for the rest of your life that God is wanting to. I mean, it reminds me, it honestly reminds me. I think of this often. The guy, and I know people, Lord, please, please, God, please take away this addiction of gambling and alcohol. Lord, please, I don't want to deal with this anymore. Well, why are you heading to Vegas? Turn the car around. Turn that car around. Get in church. Get before Almighty God on your face. Don't cry out to God to take something away that you're feeding. That makes no sense. No sense at all. Unbelievable. I hope I remember this stuff for the second service because isn't that true, though? I mean, even people, they'll say, Shane, please pray. Please pray. I can't stop this lust. Well, did you get rid of the computer like I told you? Oh, no, man, I can't do that. I'm a busy guy. I've got to work on it. Okay, so you just want God to miraculously take things away? That you don't have the willpower and the fight in you to fight it? Listen, the Christian life is a battle. You don't think I've got to battle stuff on a weekly basis? That's the warfare. The weapons of our warfare are not carnal. They're mighty through God for the pulling down of strongholds. God sometimes will take things away. Thank God. I pray for people. Depression's been lifted. It's been lifted completely. But I also know that if they're not in the Word of God, they're mixing their Xanax in the Valium and they take some wine tonight to get to sleep and they have a pot of coffee, that might be playing a role in it. Hello? People, this affects this. All right, I sat back on track. Okay, so how do we deal with the curse, Shane? Well, I want you to listen to last week's message, making a stronghold weak if you weren't there. How you deal with the curse as a believer is you constantly go to Christ. You get a heart of worship. You get in the Word of God. This is amazing. There's a correlation here. Many people, and I'm not going to say everybody, don't throw that on me again, but most people that I talk to who are struggling with whatever it is, sin and these things, tell me about your devotional life. Tell me about how much you're worshiping God. You think that's high? I don't have time for that, right? I need to do that. You know, you've been telling me you need to do that for six months. When are you going to do it? But see, anything worth doing is never easy. Never easy. Right, let's go back to the physical. Broccoli or chocolate cake? There we go. Spiritual, the Word of God, worship and prayer, or boredom and laziness and NASCAR? You've got to fight for that. Believer, you've got to get off your... You know what? And you've got to fight. There's a battle ahead. God's not just going to... We push the microwave when our food's done in two minutes, but the addictions don't leave like that. Curses don't leave like that. You've got to fight. And then finally, of course, if you're not a believer, you are still under the curse. That's strong, but it's true. If a person doesn't know God, they are still under the curse of God. They are under His condemnation and His wrath. Well, I don't like that. Me neither if there wasn't hope. All you have to do is believe and put your trust in Christ. That's it. Wait a minute, I don't have to swim to Alaska from Newport Beach? Wait a minute, I don't have to read the Bible a thousand times? No, you just put your trust in Christ and believe, and the curse is broken. Who the Son sets free is free indeed. That's why we sing it. That's why we're passionate about it, right? And I feel my serotonin levels raising up. But it's true. It's true. It's so simple. I want to sometimes just yell at people. It's so simple. Repent, turn, and believe. And we say, I don't want to. Then it's not God's fault. It's not his fault. It goes back to Eve, the pride of life. The same thing he used 6,000 years ago. Oh, Shane, you're Young Earth? Yeah, I am. I just gave myself away. The same thing he did 6,000 years ago is the same thing he's doing today.