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b'Sin is deadly. No one knew that better than the priests who daily carried out God\\u2019s good laws. These laws are found in Leviticus, a book of the Bible that details regulations for holy living for the Israelites. This holy living marked theIsraelites as the people of a holy God.\\nBreaking any of these good laws was a sin, and all people sin against God. Sin\\u2014which separates us from God\\u2014leads to death. So, to make atonement (or forgiveness) for these sins, the priests would offer sacrifices to God (Leviticus 17:11). And, each year, they would have something called The Day of Atonement.\\nThe Day of Atonement was vital (Leviticus 16:30-31). The High Priest would go behind the veil of the temple into the Most Holy Place\\u2014the place where God\\u2019s own presence dwelled\\u2014and meet with God. The High Priest would have to follow detailed survival instructions involving a bull for a sin offering, a ram for a burnt offering, and dressing in linen clothes. He would make a sacrifice before God to make atonement for all the sins of Israel. Taking two goats, he sacrificed the first goat (its life in exchange for the Israelites\\u2019 lives) and sent the second goat into the wilderness (covering sin, indicating God remembers it no more).\\nGod\\u2019s holiness should cause us to tremble. Because sin entered God\\u2019s good world, we need atonement\\u2014without it, we only have death. That\\u2019s why Jesus came. When He died on the cross for our sins, the curtain of the temple was torn in two (Matthew 27:51), demonstrating Jesus was the perfect sacrifice, making full atonement for His people so God\\u2019s holy presence could come out from the temple and live in His people. And when Jesus resurrected from the dead, He beat sin and death for us. Now, we can enter the Most Holy Place and draw near to God as we gather with other Christians for worship (Hebrews 10:19-25). Christ lives, and through Him, God\\u2019s holiness dwells in us. \\u2022 Becky Elie\\n\\u2022 Leviticus can be confusing! What questions do you have? Who can you talk to about these? \\n\\u2022 All the sacrifices in Leviticus point forward to Jesus. Why was Jesus able to atone for all of our sins at once when animal sacrifices had to be repeated over and over? \\n\\u2022 In Christ we\\u2019re made holy as new creations (2 Corinthians 5:17). How does Jesus transform us?\\n\\xe2\\u20ac\\u0153Speak to the entire assembly of Israel and say to them: \\xe2\\u20ac\\u02dcBe holy because I, the Lord your God, am holy.\\u2019\\xe2\\u20ac\\x9d Leviticus 19:2 (NIV)\\n\\xa0\\nRead Verses:\\nPsalm 23:2-3; 55:22; 127:2; Matthew 11:28-30'