Leviticus 16:11

Leviticus 16:11 says. And Aaron shall bring the bullock of the sin offering, which is for himself, and shall make an atonement for himself, and for his house, and shall kill the bullock of the sin offering which is for himself:  Aaron was to bring a bull for a sin offering for himself and his house.  Before Aaron could effectively serve the people as their priest, he had to make sure that he had first asked God to forgive his own sins.  Before we can effectively witness to others today, we need to ask God to forgive our sins.  Though Christ died for all our sins for all time, when we allow sin back into our life, we still need to confess and ask forgiveness.  Verse twelve adds, And he shall take a censer full of burning coals of fire from off the altar before the LORD, and his hands full of sweet incense beaten small, and bring it within the vail:  Verse thirteen continues, And he shall put the incense upon the fire before the LORD, that the cloud of the incense may cover the mercy seat that is upon the testimony, that he die not: Aaron was to also offer an offering of sweet incense to the LORD, so that he would not die.  Unless we offer ourselves to Christ as living sacrifice today, we will die spiritually, being eternally separated from God.  Verse fourteen states, And he shall take of the blood of the bullock, and sprinkle it with his finger upon the mercy seat eastward; and before the mercy seat shall he sprinkle of the blood with his finger seven times.  This is just a continuation of how the sacrifice was to be presented.  When we offer any sacrifice to God today, it must be on His terms and not ours.  Verse fifteen adds, Then shall he kill the goat of the sin offering, that is for the people, and bring his blood within the vail, and do with that blood as he did with the blood of the bullock, and sprinkle it upon the mercy seat, and before the mercy seat:  After Aaron offered a sacrifice for his own sins, then he could offer a sacrifice for the sins of the people.  We cannot offer a sacrifice for anyone else's sins, only Jesus Christ can, but we do need to call others to Christ once we have accepted Him as our Savior and Lord.  Verse sixteen continues, And he shall make an atonement for the holy place, because of the uncleanness of the children of Israel, and because of their transgressions in all their sins: and so shall he do for the tabernacle of the congregation, that remaineth among them in the midst of their uncleanness.  Aaron was to make atonement for the tabernacle because of the sins of the people.  Our bodies are our tabernacle, and Jesus Christ makes atonement for us because of our sins, if we put our faith in Him.  Verse seventeen says, And there shall be no man in the tabernacle of the congregation when he goeth in to make an atonement in the holy place, until he come out, and have made an atonement for himself, and for his household, and for all the congregation of Israel.  No one was to go into the tabernacle, which represented the presence of God,  until Aaron had offered all the sacrifices.  We today cannot go into the presence of God until we accept the sacrifice of Christ on the cross.  Verse eighteen adds, And he shall go out unto the altar that is before the LORD, and make an atonement for it; and shall take of the blood of the bullock, and of the blood of the goat, and put it upon the horns of the altar round about.  Then verse nineteen concludes, And he shall sprinkle of the blood upon it with his finger seven times, and cleanse it, and hallow it from the uncleanness of the children of Israel.  Aaron had to purify everything associated with the sacrifice before it could be used.  Everything that we have today, as followers of Christ, should be sanctified for God's use and His glory.