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Verse By Verse Devotional On 2 Corinthians By Pastor Jack #58

July 4, 2016 | by: Jack Lash | 0 comments

Posted in: 2 Corinthians

Smelling Like Jesus

 

2:14-16  "But thanks be to God, who...manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place. For we are a fragrance of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing; to the one an aroma from death to death, to the other an aroma from life to life. And who is adequate for these things?"

 

The same God who "always leads us in triumph in Christ" also "manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place." In other words, when the Holy Spirit is controlling us, our lives and our testimony emit the aroma of Christ. Those who are attracted to Christ (i.e. those who have been given by the Spirit a ‘taste’ for Him) find it to be a pleasing fragrance of life. To those who find Christ repulsive, our aroma is similarly repulsive.

 

Our lives are supposed to smell like Christ so that those who love Him love us and those who hate Him hate us. Everywhere we go ("in every place") we carry with us the sweet scent of Jesus Christ.

 

I supposethis scent can be kept in and contained if we are more afraid of men’s approval than we are determined to love people for Christ’s sake. And I suppose that our own foul odors can overpower the aroma of Christ so that His fragrance is not even discernible in us. But the way it’s supposed to be is that we feed upon Christ as our food (John 6:33-35, 41, 48-58), and more and more our lives carry His scent, so that those around us smell Him through us.

 

Who is adequate to bear the aroma of Christ (v.16b)? None of us are. And yet God has chosen to house "this Treasure in earthen vessels" (2Cor.4:7a), to let His power shine through our weakness so that it will be clear that it comes not from us but from God (2Cor.4:7b). It is God who “manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him.” The only way sinners can emit the delicious fragrance of Christ is "not by [man’s] might, nor by [human] power, but by My Spirit, says the Lord." (Zech.4:6)

 

What a high privilege it is, O Lord, to have Christ living in me and through me! What a privilege to be called to reflect His savory scent to this world! Forgive me for my foul odor which pollutes His fragrance. May He increase and may I decrease! May His luscious aroma come forth from my life with such purity and sweetness that others might sense only Him and none of me. May it be no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me.

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