Christ as the trespass offering (Lev. 5:1-19; 6:1-7; Heb. 9:28; 1 Pet. 2:24; 3:18) deals with our sins, our outward sinful deeds, and Christ as the sin offering (Lev. 4:1-35; Rom. 8:3; 2 Cor. 5:21; Heb. 9:26) deals with our sin, our inward sinful nature. Whenever we come to serve God as priests, we must realize and confess that we still have a sinful nature (Rom. 7:17-18a; 1 John 1:8 and note 1 John 1:81) and that we need Christ experientially to be our sin offering to deal with that nature. Through the fall we were constituted of sin (Rom. 5:19) and even became sin (cf. 2 Cor. 5:21). Enjoying Christ as our sin offering subdues and preserves us, causing us to have no confidence in ourselves (Phil. 3:3), and also prepares the way for us to enjoy Christ further as the priestly food, typified by the rams and the unleavened bread, cakes, and wafers (vv. 1-2, 32-33). Furthermore, it solves the problem of sin between us and God, reconciling us to God and making peace with God for us (1, Rom. 5:10), that we may serve Christ to God as food in an atmosphere of peace (vv. 38-42).
