• 10-minute Explanation of Bible – EASTERN •
NUMBERS MARK THE SAME TOPIC:
In: Shame & Fear & Guilt & Emptiness
• In: English & Japanese versions.
• In: Short and Long versions.
1, 2, 3, etc. – are along left margin.
These markers are not links.
1
WHO IS CREATOR GOD?
God has a very special relationship to you.
Is he not your Father, your Creator, who made you and formed you?
Deuteronomy 32:6
What did God do in the beginning?
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
Genesis 1:1
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Is there anyone like Creator God?
[Creator God declares:] "Before me no god was formed, nor will there be one after me.
I, even I, am the Lord."
Isaiah 43:10-11
Father God desires a personal relationship with you!
We love him [God] because he first loved us.
1 John 4:19
Come near to God and he will come near to you.
James 4:8
Why should I trust him?
Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame.
Romans 10:11
2
WHO IS MAN?
God gave man a very honorable status.
God said, “Let us make man in our image.” …So God created man in his own image... male and female he created them.
Genesis 1:26-27
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Of course, we are not God.
For we were created by God.
But we are similar to God in important ways:
We can communicate, create, and love in very sophisticated ways – unlike the animals.
Father God gave us a very special relationship with himself.
We are his offspring.
Acts 17:28
Think about how special this makes you in God's heart!
God gave us prestigious responsibilities.
God said, "…Let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground."
Genesis 1:26
But there was one thing lacking in God's new creation.
For Adam no suitable helper was found [among the animals].
Genesis 2:20
The Lord God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him."
Genesis 2:21
So God gave us loving human relationships.
The Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and…he took one of the man's ribs… Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib…and brought her to the man.
Genesis 2:21-22
The Creator…said, 'A man will…be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh'.
Matthew 19:4-6
The first married couple was fully united – with nothing to hide or be ashamed of.
The man and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame.
Genesis 2:25
Our human nature tells us something very important about God's nature.
Since we are God's offspring, we should not think that…[God] is like gold or silver or stone––an image made by man's design and skill.
Acts 17:29
Do you want to shame Creator God, your loving Father?
Do you think of him as an inferior object?
Or, do you think of him as something that came from man's own imagination?
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THE WORLD WAS PERFECT
God saw all that he had made, and it was very good.
Genesis 1:31
Sin and evil had not yet entered the world and drastically impacted it.
So, there was no:
Death.
Shame.
Fear.
Suffering.
Guilt.
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BUT GOD GAVE JUST ONE RESTRICTION
In the middle of the garden were [1] the Tree of Life and [2] the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.
Genesis 2:9
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God commanded the man, “You must not eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.”
Genesis 2:16
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THEN SATAN CAME TO DRIVE A WEDGE BETWEEN MAN & GOD
[In the form of a snake] he said to [Eve] the woman, …"You will not surely die."
Genesis 3:1, 4
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When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good…she took some and ate it.
Genesis 3:6
Eve followed Satan and violated her relationship with God her Father.
Which relationship would Adam honor? Which would he betray?
She also gave some to her husband [Adam], who was with her, and he ate it.
Genesis 3:6
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He put a human relationship first.
He, too, betrayed his relationship with his Heavenly Father.
Unfortunately, this is one of our great weaknesses.
[People] love…praise from men more than praise from God.
John 12:43
So Adam's choice resulted in great disaster for all people after him.
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WHAT IS THIS GREAT DISASTER?
It is Sin & Death.
Sin entered the world through one man [Adam], and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned.
Romans 5:12
The wages of sin is death.
Romans 6:23
Sin and death are our greatest problems.
They destroy everything.
6
HOW WERE ADAM & EVE AFFECTED BY THEIR SIN?
Sin resulted in great personal shame.
Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.
Genesis 3:7
They sensed something fundamentally wrong with themselves – not just with what they had done.
They could no longer be open and transparent with God and with one another.
Look how terribly our first ancestor failed God, and himself, and us.
Death reigned from the time of Adam. …[All people] died by the trespass [sin] of the one man [Adam]. …By the trespass of the one man, death reigned.
Romans 5:14, 15, 17
Think how far he fell!
[In the beginning] God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and…rule."
Genesis 1:28
But now, because of Adam, death reigned on earth.
So now . . .
To Adam…[God] said, "…Cursed is the ground because of you… You [will] return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return."
What a shameful end.
Adam's blessing was turned into a curse.
And he would end as dust.
Adam & Eve immediately experienced spiritual death.
As Adam & Eve's children, this is also our experience.
You were [spiritually] dead in your transgressions and sins.
Ephesians 2:1
Adam also experienced physical aging and death.
Adam lived…and then he died.
Genesis 5:5
Sin destroyed the Father-child relationship that Adam & Eve enjoyed with God.
Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden…, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden.
Genesis 3:8
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We are no different than Adam & Eve.
Your iniquities [sins] have separated you from your God.
Isaiah 59:2
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BUT WHAT WAS GOD'S FIRST REACTION TO ADAM & EVE'S SIN?
But the Lord God called to the man [Adam], “Where are you?”
Genesis 3:9
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Think how significant this is!
God did this on about page 3 of the 1,000+ page Bible!
Throughout the whole rest of the Bible, God is calling us back to himself.
God's continual passion is to restore our broken relationship with himself.
BUT HOW DOES ADAM ANSWER GOD'S KINDNESS?
[Adam] answered [God], "I heard you in the garden and I was afraid because I was naked."
Genesis 3:10
In his shame and disgrace, Adam was afraid to be in God's presence.
WOULD GOD THEIR FATHER STILL SHOW THEM KINDNESS?
The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them.
Genesis 3:21
Think how significant this is!
What did they deserve?
[God had said:] "When you eat of it you will surely die.”
Genesis 2:16
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They deserved instant death.
But what did God the Father do for them?
He covered their shame.
What does this tell us about God's intentions throughout the whole rest of the Bible?
God is love.
1 John 4:8
Love covers over a multitude of sins.
1 Peter 4:8
ADAM & EVE EXPERIENCED OTHER CONSEQUENCES FOR THEIR SIN
Sin destroyed their human relationships.
[Creator God asked Adam:] "Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?" The man said, "The woman you put here with me––she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it."
Genesis 3:11-12
Adam turned against his wife.
They lost their honorable position.
The Lord God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground.
Genesis 3:23
Adam had to work the ground that God had cursed.
AND ADAM & EVE LOST THE CHANCE TO LIVE FOREVER.
The Lord God said, "The man…must not be allowed to …take also from the Tree of Life and eat, and live forever." So the Lord God banished him from the Garden of Eden.
Genesis 3:22
ARE WE ANY DIFFERENT FROM ADAM & EVE?
No, we have inherited the shameful nature of our first ancestor, Adam.
I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.
Psalm 51:5
(Psalm 51:7 in New Interconfessional Translation – 新共同訳 & 聖書協会共同役)
We are completely unworthy.
All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God..
Romans 3:23
We have disrespected Creator God who made us.
They neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him.
Romans 1:21
But still, Father God's purpose is to bring us back to himself.
SO GOD PRESENTS OPTION #1 FOR OVERCOMING SIN:
8
Cain (Adam & Eve's son) tried to approach God.
Now…Cain worked the soil [which God had cursed]. …Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the Lord. …But on [1] Cain and [2] his offering he did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast.
Genesis 4:4
Cain experienced the shame of being doubly rejected by God:
1. For what he was as a person.
2. For what he offered to God.
Why did Cain experience the shame of rejection?
Much later the Bible explains the reason:
Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the Evil One [Satan].
I John 3:12
Do not be like Cain, who[se]…actions were evil.
I John 3:12
Cain fell from the glory of being made in God's image to the disgraceful position of belonging to Satan.
Are we any different?
We know that…the whole world is under the control of the Evil One [Satan].
I John 5:19
There is no one righteous [good], not even one.
Romans 3:10
Each of us has turned to his own way.
Isaiah 53:6
But God still gives Cain Option #1 for overcoming sin.
The Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? If you do what is right will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at the door; …but you must master it.”
Genesis 4:7
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What is Option #1 for being accepted by God?
It is a general, common-sense responsibility:
• "Do what is right."
• "Master" sin.
• Then you will be accepted by God.
DID CAIN & THE PEOPLE AFTER HIM KEEP OPTION #1?
Some centuries later . . .
The Lord saw how great man's wickedness on the earth had become.
Genesis 6:5
God the Father's loving heart was grieved.
The Lord was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain.
Genesis 6:6
Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God.
Ephesians 4:30
So later, God made Option #1 very specific:
[Creator God said,] “Keep my [many specific] decrees and laws, for the man who obeys them will live by them. I am the Lord.”
Leviticus 18:5
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The...commandment...was intended to bring [eternal] life.
Romans 7:10
If we continually obey all of Father God's commands, we will live forever!
But we routinely break God's most important command.
Which is the greatest commandment in the Law?
Matthew 22:36
Jesus replied: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment.
Matthew 22:36-40
And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law…hang[s] on these two commandments."
Do we keep the second-greatest commandment well?
Do we even think seriously about the first and greatest commandment?
CAN WE OVERCOME THIS SIN?
There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away.
Romans 3:10-12
Why can't we overcome sin?
I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.
Psalm 51:5
(Psalm 51:7 in Japanese, New Interconfessional Translation)
I am like my ancestor, Adam:
I inherited his fallen nature.
I am born into his shameful condition.
I have betrayed my Heavenly Father.
[We are] by nature objects of [God's] wrath.
Ephesians 2:3
So Jesus says:
You must be born again.
John 3:7
You are not acceptable to Father God as you are.
But don't we get credit for loving some people?
We think: "I love my family."
[Jesus said:] "If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the [sinners]…doing that? And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans [sinners] do that?"
Matthew 5:46-47
Do we even know what love is?
Each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor. …"In your anger do not sin": Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry. …Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other.
Ephesians 4:25
Who can continually do this?
So, trying to be acceptable to God by following Option #1 is hopeless.
Man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment.
Hebrews 9:7
The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in...[God's] books.
Revelation 20:12
[Jesus said:] "This is how it will be at the end of the age. ...Throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth."
Matthew 13:49-50
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SO OPTION #1 FAILED.
If there had been nothing wrong with the first covenant [Option #1], no place would have been sought for another [Option #2].
Hebrews 8:7
Whose fault is it that Option #1 failed?
God found fault with the people and said: "... they did not remain faithful to my covenant [Option #1]."
Hebrews 8:8-9
We are not faithful to Creator God who made us.
We have betrayed the Heavenly Father who loves us.
We have no hope of returning to him.
But...
God is love.
I John 4:8
The wages of sin is death [result of Option #1], but the gift of God is eternal life [Option #2] through Jesus Christ.
Romans 6:23 (KJV)
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SO GOD PRESENTS OPTION #2 FOR BRINGING US BACK TO HIMSELF:
While Option #1 was still in operation, God set in motion a long process that could actually save the whole world.
This was a very specific plan, starting about 2000 BC.
Starting in one specific place on earth, God chose one man Abraham, to become the father of one nation Israel, from which (2000 years later) would come one savior Jesus Christ.
God promised Abraham great blessing and great honor.
[God said:] “I will make you [Abraham] into a great nation and I will bless you; …and you will be a blessing. …And all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”
Genesis 12:2-3
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Think about this!
4,000 years ago, in blessing Abraham, God was also arranging for great blessing to come to you and your people.
What was the key to God's blessing on Abraham?
Abra[ha]m believed the Lord, and he [God] credited it to him as righteousness.
Genesis 15:6
This is one of the most important statements in the Old Testament!
God removed from Abraham the shame of sin – the shame of his ancestor Adam.
God replaced the shame of sin with righteousness [goodness].
God did this because Abraham believed God – he put his trust in Creator God.
This transformed Abraham's relationship with God.
"Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness," and he was called God's friend.
James 2:23
Abraham went from being God's enemy to being God's friend!
This is Option #2:
• Abraham believed God.
• God gave him a gift – this gift made him acceptable to God – this gift was righteousness [goodness].
• And Abraham became God's friend.
This had nothing to do with Option #1.
Abraham did not earn God's favor by working hard to be good or by trying hard to obey God's Law.
What is this gift called "righteousness"?
Righteousness = Being clean, pure and good in God's eyes – as though we are without sin and have never betrayed the Heavenly Father!
[The Bible] speaks of the blessedness of the man to whom God credits righteousness [Option #2] apart from works [Option #1]: "Blessed are they whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will never count against him."
Romans 4:6-8
How would God's blessing to Abraham come to all people?
Jesus Christ [was]… the son [descendant] of Abraham.
Matthew 1:1
About AD 1, God would send the Messiah, Jesus Christ, to this earth to be born in the country of Israel.
God would bless the whole world through Jesus Christ.
We receive the gift of righteousness the same way that Abraham did.
The words "it was credited to him [Abraham]" were written not for him alone, but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness––for us who believe in him [God] who raised Jesus...from the dead.
Romans 4:23-24
So we too are made righteous by believing God [Option #2], not by trying hard to be a good person [Option #1].
And this gift of righteousness only comes to us through the Messiah:
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son [Jesus the Messiah], that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
John 3:16
JESUS IDENTIFIED HIMSELF WITH US, SO WE CAN BE IDENTIFIED WITH HIM
In the beginning [Jesus]…was with God, and [Jesus]…was God.
John 1:1
Then, why did Jesus come down to earth from heaven?
Since the children [of God] have flesh and blood [and are human], he [Jesus] too shared in their humanity.
Hebrews 2:14
He is 100% God, but he also became 100% human.
He did this for us because we are human
He had to be made like his brothers [God's children] in every way, in order that…he might make atonement for the sins of the people.
Hebrews 2:17
Since man sinned, man must pay the penalty, because –
The wages of sin is death.
Romans 6:23
So what did Jesus do for us?
He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree [the cross].
Peter 2:24
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He [Christ] suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.
Hebrews 2:9
We are the ones who are filled with shame, yet he suffered shame for us.
Christ Jesus…being in very nature God…made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness…as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death––even death on a cross!
Philippians 2:5-8
Jesus…endured the cross, scorning its shame.
Hebrews 12:2
The Son of God . . .
came down to us . . .
and became like us . . .
in order to bring us back to God the Father.
Being in Jesus Christ is the only thing that brings us back to God our Father.
What were we before we believed in Jesus?
All of us…were by nature objects of [God's] wrath.
Ephesians 2:3
You were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship…and foreigners to the covenants of…[God's] promise, without hope and without God in the world.
Ephesians 2:12
So what did Jesus do for us?
When we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to him [God] through the death of his Son.
Romans 5:10
What do we become after we believe in Jesus?
To all who received him [Jesus Christ], to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.
John 1:12
You are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household.
Ephesians 2:19
In him [Christ] you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.
Ephesians 2:19, 22
Everything is ours in Jesus Christ!
The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ…has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing IN CHRIST.
Ephesians 1:3
God replaces our shame with great honor and exaltation.
Jesus is our representative: What happened to him, happens to us.
All of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death.
Romans 6:3
What happened to the shameful identity we inherited from our first representative, Adam?
Our old self [that we were born with] was crucified with him [Christ]…that we should no longer be slaves to sin––because anyone who has died has been freed from sin.
If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, and the new has come!
2 Corinthians 5:17
Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. …But rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness.
Romans 6:13
Our shame, but God's love!
Because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions––it is by grace you have been saved.
God made him [Jesus Christ] who had no sin to be sin for us [on the cross], so that in him we…become the righteousness of God.
2 Corinthians 5:21
Christ Jesus…has become for us…our righteousness, [and] holiness.
I Corinthians 1:30
What happened to Christ happens to us!
Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father.
Romans 6:4
[This is] in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead…we too may live a new life.
Romans 6:4
If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection.
Romans 6:5
This is even true right now.
[In a spiritual sense] God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus.
Ephesians 2:4-6
You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God.
1 Peter 2:9-10
And true for all eternity.
[The Bible's final prophecy about the future says:] Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. ...And I heard a loud voice from the throne [of God] saying, "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away." ...Then he said, "Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true."
Revelation 21:1, 3-5
CAN WE BE SURE THAT JESUS (THE SON OF GOD) IS ABLE TO BRING US BACK TO GOD THE FATHER?
Can a dead person help us?
Why consult the dead on behalf of the living?
Isaiah 8:19
Only a God who has conquered death can give us eternal life.
[Christ Jesus] was declared with power to be the Son of God by his resurrection from the dead.
Romans 1:4
Jesus said…, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?
John 11:25-26
God raised [Jesus Christ] from the dead. …Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.
Acts 4:12
Therefore . . .
He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.
1 John 5:12
Whoever believes in [Jesus] the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on him.
John 3:36
So . . .
Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame.
Romans 10:11
We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God.
2 Corinthians 5:20
WHAT HAPPENED TO JESUS HAPPENS TO US!
What happened to Jesus?
He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces, he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
Isaiah 53:3
Because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions––it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus.
Ephesians 2:4-6
[Before he died] Jesus…looked toward heaven and prayed [to God the Father]: "…I pray for those who will believe in me. …Father, …you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us. …I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you…have loved them even as you have love me. Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am , and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world."
John 17:1, 20-24
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will.
Ephesians 1:3-5
I kneel before the Father, from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power…to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge––that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
Ephesians 3:14-19
After we believe, what do we do?
We are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
Ephesians 2:10
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THIS PROMISE IS FOR YOU AND YOUR WHOLE FAMILY
The jailer…asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved? They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved–you and your household.” …Then immediately he and all his family were baptized. …He was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God–he and his whole family.
Acts 16:29-34
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The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation."
Exodus 34:6-7
I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand (generations) of those who love me and keep my commandments.
Exodus 20:5-7
Your decision can impact generations of your family after you.