aromas ...

2 Corinthians 2:14-17, NIV

¹⁴ 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. ¹⁵ For we are to God the pleasing aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. ¹⁶ 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? ¹⁷ 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.

Has anyone ever told you that you smell?

Has anyone ever said “that stinks”?

Have you ever smelled yourself when you were foul? Or someone else? Or an animal? Or a place, like a bathroom, kitchen, locker room, barn, …?

What makes us stink physically?

                * being dirty or unclean, musty, sweaty, sick, ...

What do we do when we smell bad? Or what do we do to prevent smelling bad?

We spend a lot of time and money on trying to cover up odors - bad odors, our own or in the spaces we occupy. Why? Because we stink. Sorry, people stink. We buy and use soap, deodorant, shampoo, lotion, perfume, detergent, air freshener, candles, incense, ... you name it. We want to smell good, and we want the places we occupy or visit to smell good. What we smell either invites us in or stops us at the door. What we smell, as it relates to food, informs us whether something has expired or not or whether or not it is good for us. Smells matter. Thank God for noses.

Aside from physical odors, something else stinks. Sin stinks (Proverbs 13:5; Mark 7:14-23). The Book of Leviticus spends a whole lot of time distinguishing between what makes us clean and unclean in the eyes of God. Now, how do we deodorize sin? We try to cover up the stench of sin with our rationalization, our excuses, our secrecy, our gas lighting, ... In all of our attempts, we fail to cover up how bad our sin smells to God. We might fool some of the people, but we cannot fool God. Perhaps, we become nose blind. We live with the smell of our sin for so long that we can no longer smell it.

It can be deduced anthropomorphically that God has ‘a nose’. God can smell us. And going a bit further, He wants us to smell good to Him, to be a pleasing aroma. God deodorizes us through Jesus Christ, making us a pleasing aroma rather than a foul stench. Jesus Himself is our fragrant offering and sacrifice (Ephesians 5:1-2; 2 Corinthians 2:14-17). Jesus Himself makes us clean (Mark 1:40-41; John 15:3; 1 John 1:9), taking us from unclean to clean, from unforgiven to forgiven, from disobedient to obedient.

My constant prayer is Psalm 51:10 (Create in me a clean heart, O God,

And renew a steadfast spirit within me.)

How do you smell spiritually? Do you need a spiritual bath?

Lord,

Wash us with your Word every day that you give us life.

In Jesus’ Name, Amen

Scripture References:

Proverbs 13:5, NIV

⁵ The righteous hate what is false,

but the wicked make themselves a stench

and bring shame on themselves.

Mark 7:14-23, NIV

¹⁴ Again Jesus called the crowd to him and said, “Listen to me, everyone, and understand this. ¹⁵ Nothing outside a person can defile them by going into them. Rather, it is what comes out of a person that defiles them.” ^[16]

¹⁷ After he had left the crowd and entered the house, his disciples asked him about this parable. ¹⁸ “Are you so dull?” he asked. “Don’t you see that nothing that enters a person from the outside can defile them? ¹⁹ For it doesn’t go into their heart but into their stomach, and then out of the body.” (In saying this, Jesus declared all foods clean.)

²⁰ He went on: “What comes out of a person is what defiles them. ²¹ For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come—sexual immorality, theft, murder, ²² adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. ²³ All these evils come from inside and defile a person.”

Ephesians 5:1-2, NIV

¹ Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children 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.

2 Corinthians 2:14-17, NIV

¹⁴ 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. ¹⁵ For we are to God the pleasing aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. ¹⁶ 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? ¹⁷ 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.

Mark 1:40-41, NIV

⁴⁰ A man with leprosy came to him and begged him on his knees, “If you are willing, you can make me clean.”

⁴¹ Jesus was indignant. He reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!”

John 15:3, NIV

³ You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you.

1 John 1:9, NIV

⁹ If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

Psalm 51:10, NKJV

¹⁰   Create in me a clean heart, O God,

And renew a steadfast spirit within me.