Our Heritage of Generational Blessings

Embrace your spiritual heritage as a descendant of Abraham and learn how to cultivate a lasting legacy of faith, unity, and intentionality for future generations.

Note: This is a modified version of a post I originally wrote for https://acog-chicago.org/blog/2026/01/01/our-heritage-of-generational-blessings to mark the start of 2026. Since the content is relevant to all believers, it has been revised for a general audience.

God is the God of generations. He does more than call a person; He calls a people to be in a perpetual relationship with Him. It is because of this generational call that He declared to Moses, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob” (Exodus 3:6). This statement is not simply a recitation of names; it is the pronouncement of a bloodline blessing. It was God reminding a descendant of Abraham of the promise made some 400 years earlier: “I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your descendants after you” (Genesis 17:7).

Spiritual Inheritance

The blessed bloodline began with Abraham’s physical descendants, but "the Blessing of Abraham" encompasses the promise that through him, all nations would be blessed (Genesis 12:3). This expanded the covenant to a spiritual bloodline, fulfilled through the life, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ. The Apostle Paul removed any doubt about the inclusion of Gentiles, writing, “if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s descendants, heirs according to promise” (Galatians 3:29). Through Jesus, we all become spiritual descendants by faith (Galatians 3:7-9).

As spiritual heirs of Abraham, we are also part of a blessed bloodline. Our physical descendants, those men and women who encouraged us to trust in Jesus, are why we serve the God of our parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents. Moreover, our spiritual union in Christ binds us together in an unbreakable bond of mission and legacy. Thus, our response to God’s faithfulness is threefold:

• Unity: It inspires us with an even greater determination to strive for the harmony of the Spirit by loving one another with a fervent and sincere heart.

  
  

• Stewardship: It invigorates our participation with a renewed commitment to utilize our spiritual, natural, and financial gifts to support the work of the ministry and strengthen the body of Christ.

  
  

• Legacy: It informs how we build for the generations to come, including those not yet born, by remembering our heritage of generational blessings and leaving our own blessings for the next.

Spiritual Intentionality

As we enter 2026, we do so with intentionality and purpose in our warfare, worship, and witness. We will employ the spiritual weapons that Christ has given us to wage spiritual warfare against the principalities and powers of this world—be it the human actors who perpetuate wickedness or the spiritual forces that influence them (2 Corinthians 10:4). At the same time, we will be more intentional about our worship, recommitting ourselves to assembling in person to encourage and strengthen one another (Hebrews 10:25). Lastly, we will purpose in our hearts to amplify our witness by sharing the love of Christ with others through our words and our actions.

2026 will be a year of forward momentum as we experience the power and presence of God in new ways. May His glorious grace guide us as our collective generations continue in one Spirit, one mission, and one legacy.

Dr. Isaac Hayes is an Assistant Pastor at the Apostolic Church of God in Chicago, Illinois, and author of Men After God’s Heart: 10 Principles of Brotherly Love. He also has a Doctor of Ministry degree from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. Follow Dr. Hayes on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube at @RevIsaacHayes.