This week at the high school where I teach a service dog visited each classroom in a surprise inspection to detect if any drugs were on campus. There weren’t any issues with my class. I didn’t hear of any problems with the other classes either. The presence of a drug dog on campus drew different reactions. Some people welcomed the dog, others resented it. I also get mixed reactions after a student spritzes perfume or body spray at the end of class before exiting to break or to their next class. My policy is that any kind of spray should be done outside of class, but it still happens occasionally. When the next class of students arrive I usually receive praise or disdain from students depending on whether the lingering scent smells aromatic to them or odorous. Fortunately, the scent dissipates quickly.
The Sweet Aroma of Jesus
I read a passage in the Bible just a few days ago which relates to this. I’ve been studying the book of 2 Corinthians. In the first couple of chapters the apostle Paul wrote about the triumph of God and the knowledge of God being a precious fragrance for those who believe in Jesus.
“Thank God, who is always leading us [believers] around through Christ as if we were in a parade. He releases the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere through us. We smell like the aroma of Christ’s offering to God, both to those who are being saved and to those who are on the road to destruction. We smell like a contagious dead person to those who are dying, but we smell like the fountain of life to those who are being saved.” (2 Corinthians 2:14-16).
It’s an analogy that would be familiar to his first-century audience who were under Roman rule. After a Roman military victory, the commanding officer would lead a procession through a town. He would be followed by priests burning incense, then officers, soldiers, and finally the conquered captives. To the officers and soldiers the incense was a sweet smell of victory. To the captives it was an odor of defeat.
Jesus is the King of kings who has conquered death, sin, and Satan. He is God the Son who became a man, lived a righteous life, died an innocent death to pay the penalty for everyone’s wrongdoing, and rose again in triumph over all enemies. Because Jesus lives anyone who trusts and obeys him can be saved from death and experience his abundant life now and forever as a part of God’s royal family (1 Timothy 6:15-16; 2 Timothy 1:9-10; Revelation 1:4-8; Colossians 2:13-15). In the analogy, Jesus is the commanding officer proclaiming God’s victory over sin, death, and Satan. Believers are like the incense spreading the good news of Jesus’ life-giving triumph to others. To the people who receive this truth by faith it leads to new life with God. To the people who reject this truth they remain separated from God due to their wayward wrongdoing and will reap the consequences of their rejection which is spiritual death and eternal torment (Revelation 19:11-21:8).
What Will You Do with Jesus
Given this picture of reality that Paul wrote about, I have a two-part question for myself and for you. Do I receive the truth about Jesus? If so, do I live in a way that helps me grow in Jesus and helps others come to know him? Jesus taught, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God” (John 3:16-21). I don’t want to cower in the stench of darkness afraid or unwilling to give up what I know is self-centered, wrong, or destructive. I want to walk in the fresh, nourishing, restorative light of Jesus. What about you?
Conclusion
God is calling you closer and closer to himself through Jesus. Whether you don’t yet have a relationship with God or you have drifted in your relationship, I pray that the love and salvation you can have in Jesus is a precious and sweet aroma to you and not a detestable odor. Celebrate him by faith. Let the fragrance of his presence redeem every part of your life. Let his light expose anything that falls short of God’s glory. May his light illuminate your path, define your decisions, encourage your heart, and germinate your growth. Confess any wrongdoing. Receive his forgiveness (1 John 1:9). Surrender your will to his way. Ask him to show you how to live rightly. Trust him to enable you to do it through his Spirit living in you. Don’t shrink back from a sense of deficiency. Boldly step forward with Jesus who is all sufficient. He will supply your every need (Psalm 23:1; John 6:35, Matthew 6:33, Philippians 4:19). Don’t live for personal gain, but rather for godly gain. Finally, rely on the Spirit to approach each day in a way that helps others smell the life-giving goodness of Jesus.