LIVING TO SEE OUR FUTURE GENERATIONS

1. What kind of future generations is in God's mind?

@1. Highlights:

a) Generations of godly offspring! God wants to bless us to a thousand generations. He wasn't just talking about us having blessings now but our future generations!

i) 10The Lord your God has increased your numbers so that today you are as numerous as the stars in the sky. 11May the Lord , the God of your ancestors, increase you a thousand times and bless you as he has promised! (Deuteronomy 1:10, 11 NIV)

ii) 9Know therefore that the Lord your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commandments. (Deuteronomy 7:9 NIV)

b) God does not want his people including their future generations to worship other gods made of wood, silver and gold.

i) 8"You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. 9You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, 10but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments. (Deuteronomy 5:8-10 NIV)

c) In fact, God wants his people to love him and a obey his commandments. He goes further by instructing his people to impress upon their children (future generations).

i) 5Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. 6These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. 7Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 8Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. 9Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates. (Deuteronomy 6:5-9 NIV)

2. Is it possible for a man to live so long for him to see his godly offspring to 3rd and 4th generation?

@1. Highlights:

a) Yes! Let's look at the records in the Bible about Joseph, Job, Abraham and Isaac.

i) 22Joseph stayed in Egypt, along with all his father's family. He lived a hundred and ten (110) years 23and saw the third generation of Ephraim's children. Also the children of Makir son of Manasseh were placed at birth on Joseph's knees. (Genesis 50:22, 23 NIV)

ii) 10After Job had prayed for his friends, the Lord restored his fortunes and gave him twice as much as he had before. 11All his brothers and sisters and everyone who had known him before came and ate with him in his house. They comforted and consoled him over all the trouble the Lord had brought on him, and each one gave him a piece of silver and a gold ring. 12The Lord blessed the latter part of Job's life more than the former part. He had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, a thousand yoke of oxen and a thousand donkeys. 13And he also had seven sons and three daughters. 14The first daughter he named Jemimah, the second Keziah and the third Keren-Happuch. 15Nowhere in all the land were there found women as beautiful as Job's daughters, and their father granted them an inheritance along with their brothers. 16After this, Job lived a hundred and forty years (140); he saw his children and their children to the fourth generation. 17And so Job died, an old man and full of years. (Job 42:10-17 NIV)

iii) Abraham - 175 years. The Bible recorded He died at a good old age, an old man and full of years. (Genesis 25:7-8 NIV)

iv) Isaac - 180 years. The Bible recorded he died old and full of years. (Genesis 35:28-29 NIV)

v) Here we are talking about men who died old and full of years (110 - 180 years). However, God has capped 120 years in Genesis 6:3 but for Moses' prayer of 70-80 years found in Psalms 90:10.

@1. 3Then the Lord said, "My Spirit will not contend with humans forever, for they are mortal; their days will be a hundred and twenty (120) years." (Genesis 6:3 NIV)

@2. 10Our days may come to seventy years, or eighty, if our strength endures; yet the best of them are but trouble and sorrow, for they quickly pass, and we fly away. (Psalm 90:10 NIV)

3. Why is it so essential for us to ensure that we live to see our 3rd and 4th generation of our godly offspring?

@1. Highlights:

a) The devil has the window to play i.e. up to 3rd and 4th generation to cut short our godly offspring to a thousand generations.

i) 6Then the Lord said to Cain, "Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? 7If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it." (Genesis 4:6, 7 NIV)

ii) Sin gives the devil the right to come in.

iii) After the 4th generation of godly offspring, I believe that the lineage of 5th generation of godly offspring onwards will stay on to a thousand generation. This is to say that the window for the devil to play is closed!

4. What is the key to long life that enables us to see our future generations?

a) Honor our father and mother

i) 16"Honor your father and your mother, as the Lord your God has commanded you, so that you may live long and that it may go well with you in the land the Lord your God is giving you. (Deuteronomy 5:16 NIV)

b) Obey God's commandments

i) 28The Lord heard you when you spoke to me, and the Lord said to me, "I have heard what this people said to you. Everything they said was good. 29Oh, that their hearts would be inclined to fear me and keep all my commands always, so that it might go well with them and their children forever! (Deuteronomy 5:28, 29 NIV)

c) Walk in obedience

i) 32So be careful to do what the Lord your God has commanded you; do not turn aside to the right or to the left. 33Walk in obedience to all that the Lord your God has commanded you, so that you may live and prosper and prolong your days in the land that you will possess. (Deuteronomy 5:32, 33 NIV)

5. Prayer focus

a) Pray that we will live long to see our 3rd and 4th generation of godly offsprings.

b) Pray that we are healthy, live long to ensure that our godly inheritance will stay a thousand generations.