What a change Jesus works in us when he brings us to life.
Christ himself comes to live through us. And the Spirit begins his work of transforming us into the image of Christ, from glory to glory. We begin to exude Jesus.
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, to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life. Who is sufficient for these things? (2 Corinthians 2:14-16 ESV)
Jonathan Edwards put it this way:
“But when Christ arises upon [the spiritually dead], then all things begin to revive, the will and affections begin to move, and they set about the work they have to do. They are now awakened out of their sleep: whereas they were still before, now they begin to be diligent and industrious; whereas they were silent before, now they begin to sing forth God’s praises. Their graces now begin to be put into exercise, as flowers send forth a fragrancy when the sun shines upon them.” –Jonathan Edwards in Strachan and Sweeney, Jonathan Edwards on Beauty
Let us seek to leave a fragrance of Christ everywhere we go. Even if we don’t have the opportunity to share the gospel, may others experience our joy, humility, thankfulness and kindness. Though they may not be able to put their finger on it, may the fragrance of Jesus linger long after we’ve left the room.
photo by Lel4nd
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
Thanks for this, Mark. I love these verses. Two words from that text jumped off the page for me several years ago … "to God." If our desire is to smell like Christ to God, we will be able to humbly rejoice when that is the fragrance of life to some, and we will be able to bear it when that fragrance is hated by others.
If we try to smell nice to people without first being conscious of how we are the fragrance of Christ to God, we may compromise what God desires us to be for the sake of human approval.
It took a lot of pressure off in pastoral ministry to realize that.
Excellent comments Terry! Amen. Our first priority is to bring glory to God, to please God, and be a fragrance of Christ to him. Thanks so much for adding these thoughts!
I really like this post, and Terry's comment is so true on so many levels; are we Christ- or self-conscious? Blessings!