Girl! You Smell Good!
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.
2 Corinthians 2:14-15
Think about the smell of a batch of chocolate chip cookies or a hot apple pie baking in the oven. The scent of a vase full of Stargazer Lilies is distinguishable among all other flowers and is one of my favorites. These aromas fill the air around us, are beautiful and pleasing, and they bring joy. Paul describes the knowledge of God as a pleasing aroma.
When God gave Moses the Law in the wilderness, He knew keeping all of His commands would be impossible, just as it is for us today. They were required to offer a burnt offering twice a day to atone for their sins, which He said would be a “pleasing aroma.”
In the New Testament, you only find “aroma” three times, all within 2 Corinthians 2:14-16. It says Jesus is the perfect lamb that was sacrificed as the once and for all sin offering, not to cover sin, but for the cancellation of our sin debt. His one-time sacrifice was enough to satisfy the wrath of God.
Jesus’ sacrifice is the pleasing aroma, and because He lives in us, through the Holy Spirit, this aroma indwells us. This is why Paul says, we are the fragrance of Christ (2 Corinthians 2:15a, NIV). As we share with others the testimonies of the powerful things that God does in, around, and through us, we spread the aroma of the knowledge of Him. How beautiful!
The fact that God allows us to be a part of something as beautiful as spreading the aroma of the knowledge of Him, boggles my mind.
Lord, thank you for filling us with the fragrance of the knowledge of You. Oh, that we could be so in awe of You, that Your fragrance overflows. Open our eyes and hearts to the divine appointments You have set before us. Give us the courage to be faithful to spread this beautiful aroma: the knowledge of You and Your goodness in our lives. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Johna Clemons
