What Does It Mean to Be the Fragrance of Christ?
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“Ah-choo, excuse me, ah-choo, sorry there must be something in the air.” The young woman replied to me as I was sharing the gospel with her. I could not help but notice the same response occurred just a few days prior from another student involved in some similar spiritual darkness. These were genuine times when I believe those walking in spiritual darkness were physically bothered by being around the presence of the Holy Spirit.
When we are believers in Jesus, His Spirit lives within us. This impacts not only our hearts, but our lives. What does it mean to be the fragrance of Christ?
Preferences: Life or Death
My infant son laughs when I sneeze. It is both shocking and hilarious to him. I recently wrote a song about a sneeze for him. We giggle together.
Fragrances can often cause us to sneeze. When we think about perfumes and candles, we all have preferences. Think about your all-time favorite scent. My personal preference is a warm scent or sometimes something fruity. However, most of the time, floral scents bother me. Sadly, a large reason is tied to the many funerals I attended for grandparents, great aunts and great uncles as a young girl. Specific flowers always take me back to receiving lines and caskets. Although I am not a fan, there are many others who adore floral scents.
When we ponder the concept of having the fragrance of Christ, everyone on this earth will have a preference. There are two options: either we love the fragrance of Jesus, or we despise it. It either reminds us of life or death.
2 Corinthians 2:13-17 - “But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere. For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life. Who is sufficient for these things? For we are not, like so many, peddlers of God's word, but as men of sincerity, as commissioned by God, in the sight of God we speak in Christ.”
We either reek or smell amazing to others. We are either the scent of heaven or the scent of hell. When Christ followers live out their faith around others in the world, it will either be an encouragement or cause disgust. There is no lukewarm response (Isaiah 3:24, Revelation 3:15-18).
Our Sacrifices Are a Pleasing Aroma to God
We see other references to fragrance. Mary poured out her perfume on Jesus’ feet to anoint him as an offering to Christ and prepared Him for his burial (John 12:1-8). We read in Ephesians 5:2 “and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” Jesus’ sacrifice was a beautiful fragrance to God.
This is not a new concept to the New Testament. All of Scripture is God-breathed. After the ark made it through the flood, Noah built an altar to the Lord and sacrificed the first clean animals on it.
Genesis 8:21 says, “The LORD smelled the pleasing aroma and said in his heart: 'Never again will I curse the ground because of humans, even though every inclination of the human heart is evil from childhood. And never again will I destroy all living creatures, as I have done.'”
The sacrifice smelled good to God. Think about when your mom, dad, or a loved one made an incredible meal. The smell of that dish steamed up through the kitchen, out the door, down the hallway and into the room you were in. The delicious scent of your favorite meal hit your nostrils as you inhaled pure joy. You began to salivate and followed the trail of the scent back into the kitchen where your loving relative was preparing the meal. That dinner was not the love, it was a result of the love of your relative.
In a similar way, think about the fragrance of an offering given to the Lord out of love by one of His children.
When we make sacrifices for His glory and His name, He sees that and He smells that. He knows our hearts are in it, just like He knew the heart of Cain and Abel in the first offerings mentioned after the fall (Genesis 4). Cain’s fruit was sufficient, but Abel’s flock was his fat portions. Abel’s offering was from his heart.
There might be days when we are sacrificing just like that relative in the kitchen, feeling like no one sees all of the hard work we are putting in. However, God sees us, the aroma of our life sacrifices are pleasing to Him. They matter. They show others His love for them and the love that He has for us.
What Scent Do I Give Off?
The fact still remains that we are the aroma of Christ as His children. However, are we choosing to be living by His Spirit each day? Think about the sweet children’s song “This Little Light of Mine.” When we are daily praying, reading the Word, sharing our faith, and living out of the fruit of the Spirit, we are the aroma of Jesus to this dark world. We are intentionally letting our lights shine for Christ.
An aroma comes as a result of something actively cooking or burning. The longer something burns, the further its smoke trail travels. The longer food bakes, the stronger the scent. In a similar way, the longer we walk with God, the more others see the positive effects on our lives. This is by the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. This is not because we are “good.” We are graced. We have been invited to live by the Spirit and not our flesh. The Spirit is the good aroma. Anything we offer to the Lord is ultimately from Him.
Romans 11:36 - “For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever. Amen.”
We give glory to the Creator. We live our lives for His praise. He is worthy of our all and our best.
What are some ways this week that you can make sacrifices for the Lord? Who are the people around you experiencing your decisions as death? Who are those encountering the fragrance of life? How can you press into those relationships and share Jesus with those headed for death?
The hard truth is that if our lives repulse unbelievers, we will be hated by many.
Matthew 10:22 says, “and you will be hated by all for my name’s sake. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.”
Ultimately when someone follows Jesus, the cost is great. There will be pushback, culture will hate you, people will gossip, and the daily cross will be hard to bear. However, we can remember our Savior Jesus bore the greatest sacrifice, He was the most perfect and pleasant fragrance. One day every knee will bow in heaven and on earth to Him, but for now we anticipate the glorious fragrance of His return and share His fragrance with the world.
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