ANCESTRAL RESPONSIBILITY

Let me begin by quoting a lengthy portion of Scripture that is directly to the point:

Deut. 6:1-15  Now these are the commandments, the statutes, and the judgments, which the LORD your God commanded to teach you, that ye might do them in the land whither ye go to possess it. That thou mightest fear the LORD thy God, to keep all his statutes and his commandments, which I command thee, thou, and thy son, and thy son's son, all the days of thy life; and that thy days may be prolonged. Hear therefore, O Israel, and observe to do it; that it may be well with thee, and that ye may increase mightily, as the LORD God of thy fathers hath promised thee, in the land that floweth with milk and honey. Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD: And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates. And it shall be, when the LORD thy God shall have brought thee into the land which he sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give thee great and goodly cities, which thou buildedst not, And houses full of all good things, which thou filledst not, and wells digged, which thou diggedst not, vineyards and olive trees, which thou plantedst not; when thou shalt have eaten and be full; Then beware lest thou forget the LORD, which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage. Thou shalt fear the LORD thy God, and serve him, and shalt swear by his name. Ye shall not go after other gods, of the gods of the people which are round about you; (For the LORD thy God is a jealous God among you) lest the anger of the LORD thy God be kindled against thee, and destroy thee from off the face of the earth.

It is commonly believed among Christians that God is fair. It is commonly believed among the heathen that God is not fair. This difference of opinion is most evident when the Christian doctrine of final judgment is discussed and people who may never have heard the Gospel message are adjudged to be guilty of denying the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I would like to give you a few thoughts on this subject.

First of all, let us get it straight that God is not fair! At least not in the sense that we commonly use that word. If He were fair, then all of us would get equal treatment, and that means we would all get exactly what we deserve. No, God is not fair, He is just! To illustrate the difference, let us suppose that a police officer stops a speeder who zips passed him as he hides behind the proverbial road sign. The motorist of course, willing to justify himself and hoping to get away with the violation appeals to the sympathy of the officer by offering the opinion that would go something like this: “Officer, I think it is totally unfair for you to hide behind a sign like that!” But the officer has heard this one many times before and responds something like this: "You want me to be fair and not hide?  O.K.  I'll tell you what fair is. Every time you speed, you go to the nearest police station and give yourself up and tell them how fast you were going. And ask them to issue a ticket for the violation. That's what  fair is! Until that happens, I will continue to hide, and we will have justice !" You may not like or agree with the policeman’s logic, but you got the point ... and hopefully not the ticket.

So I thank God, that He is not fair, but just. Under His system, I do not get what I deserve, which is eternity in hell, but I get what justice grants me by Grace, that is salvation and eternity with God, and my Lord Jesus gets what he does not deserve, my punishment for sin.  (See Rom. 3:24-26 below)

Second of all, it is not only the heathen who cannot comprehend God's actions in judgment. Many fine Christians have no answer concerning the multiplied millions who are sadly  lost for eternity, even though they have not heard the Gospel.

We must agree with the Word of God, when it says that no person can be saved except by the Name and the Blood of Jesus. (Acts 4:12, I John 1:7) If they could, then our Lord would have died in vain, since there was obviously some other way to be saved. If ignorance about God's only way of salvation is an excuse, then again, it is not the only way of salvation.  Then there are two ways, by the Blood and by ignorance. We know better. That is where this business of ancestral responsibility comes in. 

Every day there are people who are getting in one kind of trouble or another. Some have trouble with the law, some with their employer, some with their parents, or any other kind of authority, all because they either failed to do something they should have done, or they did something they should not have done. Sometime it is willful disregard for the law and sometimes it is because they are uninformed about the requirements of the law. We often speak of this last group under the rubric "Ignorance is no excuse."

Twice in the history of the world the total population was extremely small. They are recorded in Genesis 2:7,21,22. In the beginning God created two individuals. Adam and Eve. Or, if you prefer he created Adam and Adam's rib. At any rate, everyone in the world knew God at this point! Yes, there were only two, but they both knew God! How many generations did it take before the entire world had rejected God? By the time we get to Noah in Genesis chapter six, every other person in the world except him and his family was condemned to perish in the flood. Noah and his wife, his three sons and their wives, that’s it. A total of just eight people out of the entire world. Gen.7:23. Was this fair? Whose fault was it? How did so many people fail to continue faithful to God? May I suggest that the problem was a fatal neglect of ancestral responsibility? May I suggest that God cannot be blamed since it is clear that He is never willing that any should perish? (II Peter 3:9) May I add that He has repeatedly warned us how easy it is to forget His grace and mercy, and to attribute the blessings we receive to some source other than the God of all creation.

You believe in God? (Heb 11:6) I am very glad about that. You have trained up your children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord? (Eph. 6:4) Good for you. But let me also ask you; how many generations will it be before some parent among your progeny will neglect to instruct their offspring concerning the source of life? Three generations? Eight? One? However many it may be, when and if it comes to pass, that generation will again be heathen. It will again be a case of neglected ancestral responsibility.

I repeat, twice in the history of the world everybody knew God!  At creation, and at the end of the flood judgment. And yet Paul can write in his day that ... the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness; Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath showed it unto them. For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things.  (Rom. 1:18-23)

I would like you to take the time to see how different was the family environment in which our friend Timothy was nurtured by his grandmother Lois and his mother Eunice. (2 Tim 1:5). Both of these women were concerned that the child Timothy succeed where it counted most ... in the Lord!

If we are at the end of the age - and everything seems to point in that direction - then it is vital that all our children, even while still very young, are in "the ark of safety". Then, even if the Lord tarries, your children, who are well instructed in righteousness, will be more likely to pass it on to their own offspring. It is nothing less than a matter of (eternal) life and (eternal) death.

The next time you wonder about the difficult matter of those who have never heard the good news, think also about the ancestral responsibility that rests upon those who have heard. While you are at it, pay particular attention to your own responsibility.

_______________________________________________________________________

Rom 3:24-26 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.

Acts 4:12              Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.

I John 1:7              But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.

Gen. 2:7            And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

Gen. 2:21,22            And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof; And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.

Gen. 7:23            And every living substance was destroyed which was upon the face of the ground, both man, and cattle, and the creeping things, and the fowl of the heaven; and they were destroyed from the earth: and Noah only remained alive, and they that were with him in the ark.

II Pet. 3:9            The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

Heb. 11:6              But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

Eph. 6:4              And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.

II Tim 1:5       When I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith that is in thee, which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois, and thy mother Eunice; and I am persuaded that in thee also.