The Aroma...

“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.”—2 Corinthians 2:14-16

I really, really enjoy a good cup of coffee in the morning. While I don’t consider myself a coffee connoisseur, I would like to think that I am more into drinking and knowing about coffee than the average Joe. A few years ago my in-laws gave me a coffee grinder, enabling me to have the freshest possible coffee experience. Each day I get up and grind some beans, then put my fresh grounds into my coffee maker making some exquisite coffee. As the coffee maker begins to brew, I can smell the coffee throughout the house. The sheer smell of the beans perks me up a bit as my whole body waits in expectation for my morning cup of Joe. It’s a great way for me to start my day.

Coffee beans have to be ground or broken before they can be used. Even then, the brokenness of the beans does not bring about an aroma until the hot water flows through them. The same is true for us, we must be ground or broken before God can use us, and then, we must have the hot water of His Holy Spirit to bring the aroma to life.

I know that some who read this don’t like the taste or smell of coffee and that’s fine. My point concerns the aroma of Christ. For some, the smell of coffee in the morning brings life, for others, disgust. The same is true in our passage for today. All Christians have the smell of Christ on them. And when we come into contact with others, they smell that aroma. For some, we smell fantastic, because we possess a smell of life and joy. To others, our smell disgusts them, because we bring to remembrance the smell of death.

If you are a Christian, you are going to have an aroma. Here’s what I mean. Only the Christian, one who has been saved by Christ has a spiritual smell or scent. The Greek terms for aroma and fragrance here are often used in the Greek Old Testament for the aroma of a sacrifice pleasing to God (Genesis 8:21; Exodus. 29:25; Leviticus 1:13, Numbers 15:3). In the New Testament, the Apostle Paul says that we are to, “present your bodies as a living sacrifice…”—Romans 12:1. If we are daily placing ourselves in the grinder of grace (presenting ourselves as living sacrifices), inviting the hot water of His Holy Spirit to flow through us, then the whole of our lives will burst forth in an aroma of Christ to everyone with whom we come into contact. They will know about Christ through us and for some it will be the smell of life and salvation, for others it is a reminder of their death and destruction.

So today, if you haven’t yet already, place yourself in the grinder of grace, asking Him to break you so that the aroma of Himself might come through you so that all will know who Jesus is. Amen.