THE FRAGARANCE OF CHRIST

THE FRAGRANCE OF CHRIST

Get into a small confined space such as an elevator ant ther be someone in there that smells as if they bathed in a tub of perfume you would know it immediately. Likewise, should there be someone who has not bathed for a long time and wearing the same clothing, they probably will have an odor called body odor. These type fragrances are quickly identified by one of our five senses. However, God’s word to us states as we become knowledgeable of our Lord, we will emulate Jesus wherever we go. In 2 Corinthians 2:14 and 15 we learn that we should always be thankful unto God for leading us triumphantly through the maze of this mortal life because we abide in Christ Jesus, and through us we defuse the fragrance of His knowledge to all we meet. The word also states that we are to God, the fragrance of His son, our Lord, Christ Jesus.
How important is this for you and me? I cannot over emphasize the importance of apprehending what God is revealing through these passages. As early as Hosea the profit wrote sometime between 722 and 721 years before the birth of Jesus a message from God: “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: and because you have rejected knowledge I will also reject you, that you shall be no priest to me: seeing you have forgotten the law of God, I will also forget your children.” Therefore, give diligence to his word, and ask yourself, what kind of aroma do I present to God?
As we are getting to know the Lord more and more, our God is not the only one who is impacted. This spiritual aroma of Christ impacts every person we meet. "God, through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place." This includes both the saved and the unsaved. "For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing." This fragrance affects those who know the Lord: "the fragrance of Christ...among those who are being saved." For those who are enjoying life in Christ, that heavenly scent in our lives is "the aroma of life to life." Christ's fragrance in us draws them to seek abundant measures of that life which they have already entered. This spiritual scent also influences those who do not yet know our Lord: "the fragrance of Christ among those who are perishing." To them it is "the aroma of death to death." They are dead in their sins, and this aroma makes them more aware of their deadness, more aware of their need for Christ. A personal warning: be not complacent, believing all that is required is belief in God, and go to church for an hour once a week, and give something as tithe, then go about your business seeking, or enjoying the amenities of this world only. When this fragrance is emanating from our lives, we are not the cause. God is the active agent, working in and through us to bring forth this heavenly scent. "Now all thanks be unto God who...through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge." This work of God's grace is available to us every day we live and everywhere we go: "the fragrance of His knowledge is available in every place." The apostle Paul evaluating himself penned in Philippians chapter 3: verses 7 and 8 that all he had gained in this world before he was miraculously converted by his encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus, (Acts chapter 9) he considered it all as lose for gaining the Excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus our Lord.
I have often asked in prayer and meditation why God, has it taken so long for me to first apprehend and then comprehend this message with understanding? But it has, and I am humbled while giving all thanks and praises to my Lord Jesus.