2 Corinthians 2:14-15 (ESV):
A baby's sense of smell is incredible. I watched a video the other day where a crying baby was given a shirt from her mother and immediately she stopped crying. She could smell her mother. There are two words used in the verses above for fragrance or aroma. The word translated “fragrance” in this passage means smell. It can refer to either a good smell or a bad smell. The word translated “aroma” takes the first word and adds a prefix to it so that it means “good smell.” Through us the smell of the knowledge of him is spread. We are the good smell of Christ. What does it mean to be the fragrance or aroma of Christ?
In the Jewish tabernacle and temple twice a day a priest would enter the Holy Place. One of his tasks there was to burn incense on the Altar of Incense. The incense was a picture of the prayers of God’s people being lifted up before the throne of God. Today believers are invited to come confidently before the throne of God and find mercy. We are not limited to using priests or even to twice a day. We have an open invitation to the throne. When the priest left the holy place the smoke from the incense would have left a fragrance clinging to his clothing. It was an incense that was to be used exclusively for worship. The law forbid that incense to be used for common purposes. The priest would smell it as he offered the prayers of the people. The people would smell it if they were near the priest who had offered the incense. It was the good smell of having been in the presence of God. That raises a question in my mind. When I encounter people do they smell the fragrance of one who has been in the presence of God, or do they smell the stench of self?
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.
A baby's sense of smell is incredible. I watched a video the other day where a crying baby was given a shirt from her mother and immediately she stopped crying. She could smell her mother. There are two words used in the verses above for fragrance or aroma. The word translated “fragrance” in this passage means smell. It can refer to either a good smell or a bad smell. The word translated “aroma” takes the first word and adds a prefix to it so that it means “good smell.” Through us the smell of the knowledge of him is spread. We are the good smell of Christ. What does it mean to be the fragrance or aroma of Christ?
In the Jewish tabernacle and temple twice a day a priest would enter the Holy Place. One of his tasks there was to burn incense on the Altar of Incense. The incense was a picture of the prayers of God’s people being lifted up before the throne of God. Today believers are invited to come confidently before the throne of God and find mercy. We are not limited to using priests or even to twice a day. We have an open invitation to the throne. When the priest left the holy place the smoke from the incense would have left a fragrance clinging to his clothing. It was an incense that was to be used exclusively for worship. The law forbid that incense to be used for common purposes. The priest would smell it as he offered the prayers of the people. The people would smell it if they were near the priest who had offered the incense. It was the good smell of having been in the presence of God. That raises a question in my mind. When I encounter people do they smell the fragrance of one who has been in the presence of God, or do they smell the stench of self?
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