Pleasing Aromas

I love perfume. 

 The road to my heart really is through Hugo Boss, and generally any nice-smelling and semi-expensive fragrance... (Men take note.)  I adore the smell of freshly-baked bread.  Pretty much, anything that is pleasing to the nostrils, I love.  I am that girl who will always exclaim, 'You smell AMAZING!' to any of my friends who happen to be wearing a nice perfume or cologne.  (Don't worry, I wouldn't say that to a stranger... That's just weird.)

This is why the following verse has been playing round in my mind the last few days, since it came up in my daily bible reading.  It struck a chord with me, and I haven't been able to shake off thinking about it:

'But thanks be to God, who always leads us as captives in Christ's triumphal procession and uses us to spread the aroma of the knowledge of Him everywhere.  For we are to God the pleasing aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing.  To the one we are an aroma that brings death; to the other, an aroma that brings life.  And who is equal to such a task? Unlike so many, we do not peddle the Word of God for profit.  On the contrary, in Christ we speak before God with sincerity, as those sent from God.'2 Corinthians 2:14-17


Aroma.  When I hear this word, I think of rich, powerful and pleasing fragrances.  Exotic foods.  Aromatic spices.  Fruit.  Scented candles and incense sticks.  Beautiful scents that fill rooms.  When this passage says that God uses us to spread the aroma of the knowledge of Him everywhere, it is basically saying that God uses us to spread the sweet-smelling, beautiful fragrance of Himself wherever we go.  The aroma of Christ is pleasing... Sweet... Powerful.  It draws people closer to Himself.

This idea of fragrances is a theme which is repeated throughout Scripture:

We see in Exodus 30 that people burned incense offerings to God.

Esther went through a full year of intensive beauty treatments, which included being doused in oil of myrrh for six months, and then perfumes and cosmetics for another six months.

  All so that she could go before King Xerxes and be pleasing to Him. 

In the Gospels we see Jesus being drenched in various perfumes and oils by women who loved Him.  The unnamed 'sinful woman' in Luke 7 weeps at His feet, and then pours perfume over them.  She realises who this man is, and how unworthy she is, unlike the Pharisees He is eating with at the time.

Mary poured perfume worth a full years wages over His head, much to the scorn of those present.  It says in Mark 14:3 that this perfume was made of 'pure nard,' and John 12:3 tells us that it filled the entire house with its fragrance.  It was powerful stuff, and Jesus was drenched in it.  At this point the phrase 'aroma of Christ' would very much be a literal one!  Jesus states in Mark 14:8: 'She poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for my burial.' Bearing in mind that this event happened just days before Jesus' death, this incident and Jesus' words would be fresh on their minds as they watched Him hanging on the cross.  And that powerful fragrance poured on Him just days earlier; the same fragrance that had filled an entire house, would still have been lingering on His skin. In His pores.  In His sweat.

 Jesus became a literal incense offering, pleasing to God.
The smell of both death, and life.
Smelled by everyone, regardless of whether they believed or not.
And the essence? Undeniable.  It was there.

And so it is with us - God uses US to spread the aroma of the knowledge of Him everywhere, to those who choose to believe, and to those who don't.  Even more than this... Through Jesus, we are PLEASING to God.

'We are to God the pleasing aroma of Christ...' 

Through Christ dying for us and our wrongdoings, we have forgiveness and redemption when we seek and ask... And the God who created the heavens and the earth is pleased.  By us.  By me.  
In us, the aroma of Christ dwells.

Having the Spirit of the living God dwelling in us causes change.  It causes us to become more Christ-like: more loving... Compassionate... Patient.  This fragrance of Christ - that supernatural Spirit that moves in us, is attractive to people, in much the same way that I am attracted and drawn in by nice smells.  It causes people to want to look into our lives, and to question, 'why?' 'Why Jesus?'

Much like perfume, which lingers on clothes, on skin, in hair, the Spirit lingers... Except in this case it lingers in hearts and minds.

But, as with all of Scripture, this leaves us with a practical application for our lives, and a challenge.  How do we spread the aroma of Him everywhere? What does this passage say that we are to do?

'We do not peddle the Word of God for profit.  On the contrary, in Christ we speak before God with sincerity, as those sent from God.'

We do not do anything for our own gain.  We are not telling people about Jesus and His saving power for the sake of our own reputation... If anything, it will just make us more unpopular.  No, we speak the Word of God for His Glory, and to further His Kingdom. 

 Additionally, In Christ we speak with SINCERITY.  We speak to people out of a genuine and honest heart.  We seek to be more loving, more gracious, and more compassionate. 
And we do this all by the grace of God at work in us, not in our own strength or by our own means. For the power of God is at work within us who believe, and it smells sweet.

So I urge you, whenever you catch a waft of a pleasant aroma, let it be a reminder to you that we are called to spread the aroma of God everywhere we go.  Let it be a reminder that in us as believers the fullness of Christ dwells, and The Lord is pleased with us when we seek to follow Him.

What other ways are there that we can spread the aroma of the knowledge of Him everywhere?