In my previous study I concluded that the angel declared there were yet six works which God intended to perform for his people (Daniel 9:24), before his judgment of them would be complete, and this would take a total of 490 years, vis-à-vis to complete the Seventy Weeks Prophecy (Daniel 24-27). At this point, I’m discussing the first of these six works, namely “to finish (or more properly to restrain) the transgression.”
The transgression or law of sin was handed down to us from Adam, and it is dealt with at the cross. It is Christ’s own life, given up as our sacrifice that deals with our life in Adam. God can simply and forthrightly forgive all my sins without requiring a penalty, but he cannot do so when it comes to the sin principle (rebellion). If he doesn’t deal with who I am, nothing has changed. We are all born with the proclivity to sin as a result of Adam’s rebellion against God. Our sinful deeds are a testimony to the fact of the sin principle within us. What happened to Adam happened, as a result of what he did, occurred also to all of us, because our humanity is derived from him. His transgression or rebellion against God released the power of the sin principle within each of us, and this causes us to behave as we do. Though we know what is right, we find no power in our flesh to do right. In fact, even the great spiritual Law given to us by God is used by our nature to sin even more (cp. Romans 7:10-11). On the other hand, if we identify ourselves with Jesus as our Savior, then (as it was with Adam’s rebellion) whatever happened to Jesus also occurred to us (Romans 6:10).
Christ died to sin (the transgression) but lives by his resurrection. We are to reckon ourselves alive to God, through Christ’s resurrection. Whatever happened to him must also happen to us who have received him. Something happens to us when we receive Jesus as our Savior. Our life essence is changed. It is wonderful and irreversible (John 1:12-13). We have a new life in Christ; our life in Adam has become the ‘old man’ of Scripture and is to be put off (Romans 6:6; Ephesians 4:22; Colossians 3:9).
What Christ did at the cross was to destroy the old creation that lies in Adam. What he did at his resurrection was to begin a new creation found only in himself. When I am born again, it is not in the flesh, vis-à-vis I do not begin again in Adam. God is not merely giving me a fresh start. On the contrary, I am born again in the Spirit. In Christ I am part of a new creation (2Corinthians 5:17; Galatians 6 15). I still live in the flesh, but I am to reckon this life as dead with all its goals and desires, and live out this natural life to honor Christ (Romans 6:10-11). While it is still possible to sin, my sin activity is in choosing my old master (Adam) instead of my new Lord (Christ). In my new life, I cannot sin; that is, Christ has never sinned and therefore his life (which is now my own) cannot be prompted to do evil.
God has saved us to the uttermost. The life we now live in Christ is new, and is often referred to as a new birth. We have never lived Christ’s life, until we voluntarily and deliberately receive him as our Lord. This new life is revealed in God’s word, as a life that cannot be tempted to sin (John 3:6, 9). The sense in these verses is not that we never fall into sin but that sin is held in check by the Spirit of God dwelling in us, vis-à-vis we no longer practice sin, as we were once apt to do. This is explained better in Paul’s in Romans 7:14-25. So, it is not that the transgression is “finished,” but that it is held in check. As long as I dwell in Christ, I am ‘a slave to the Law of God,’ and I will not sin. Nevertheless, if I permit myself to dwell in the ‘old man,’ I am a ‘slave to my lower nature.’ My old life, which I draw from Adam, deeply desires to continue in sin. It cannot be obedient to God, because it is totally corrupt (Romans 8:6-7; 1Corinthians 2:14).
Thus, “transgression” (rebellion) as spoken of in Daniel 9:24 is not ended, because I am weak through the flesh, but it has been severely limited because of the Spirit of God that dwells within me. They are in constant battle, and as an old American Indian once told a missionary concerning the war within: “The one I feed the most is the one who is winning the battle” (cp. Mark 4:38; Galatians 5:16-17).
The rebellious spirit within man has been given a deathblow at the cross. The salvation that was won there for us comes in three stages:
- THE PAST – We have been saved from the penalty of sin – death (Ephesians 2:5, 8).
- THE PRESENT – We are being saved from the power of sin – the sin principle within (Philippians 2:12-13).
- THE FUTURE – Finally, we shall be saved from the very presence of sin – when given our new bodies (Romans 8:18-25; cp. 2Corinthians 5:1-4).
The point is: if we are waiting for the transgression of Daniel 9:24 to end before the Seventy Weeks Prophecy can be fulfilled, we are denying that the work of Christ, his sacrifice on the cross and his resurrection is a completed work of God.
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