Title: You are the fragrance of Christ.
“We are the fragrance of Christ before God, both to those who are being saved and to those who are perishing” (2 Corinthians 2:15).
There is this story in a Persian fable. A traveler got a lump of mud. The mud had a strong beautiful scent. “Are you the pearl of Baghdad?” asked. The mud answered, “No.” “Then are you an Indian musk?” When asked, he replied, “Neither is it.” “Then what are you?” When asked, he replied, “I am just a lump of clay.” “Then where does that scent come from?” asked the traveler. The clay then said, “I have lived with the lily for a long time.” The secret to the scent of mud is the fact that it has lived with lilies for a long time. We ourselves are nothing beautiful, nothing fragrant, nothing to brag about. However, our life, which will return to a handful of mud, can only give off the fragrance of life when we are with Jesus Christ. Therefore, we must make the decision, “Let’s not live for our own glory, but for the glory of God, who is the source of all things.”
“I have all that I have, and I have abundance, and I am satisfied because I have received what you have given me on the part of Epaphroditus, an acceptable fragrant offering, pleasing to God” (Philippians 4:18).
At a famous university, there was a student who suffered greatly from polio. But the student not only did well in his studies, but was always cheerful and confident. When asked to share the secret of why he lives so cheerfully and confidently, he said: “Because polio didn’t even penetrate my heart”
However, although the limbs are intact, there are many people who are suffering from diseases of the mind and spirit, and they are bothering those around them. A physical disability ends up being uncomfortable only for you, but a spiritual disability may make you feel comfortable, but it causes harm and hurt to others. If such a person rises to an important position with a healthy body and plausible academic background, the damage is greater. The stench of rotten filth disappears when the wind blows and washes it, but the stench of personality is hard to erase and afflicts for a long time. What is the scent coming out of me right now?
“Arise, north wind, come, south wind, blow upon my garden, and give its fragrance; I desire my beloved to enter the garden and eat of its good fruit” (Song of Songs 4:16).
As such, in ancient times and today, fragrance has been regarded as a symbol of holy things, love, loyalty and devotion, and faith. So, not only do we think of the gospel of Christ as a fragrance, but also the saints (2 Corinthians 2:15) and offerings (Philippians 4:18) and the prayers of the saints (Revelation 5:8) are compared to fragrance.
All things have a unique smell. And the smell spreads out in nature and you get used to it. And the smell lets you know the body.
There is such a story. At the end of the Japanese colonial period, despite an elder's refusal to visit the shrine, people came and forced him to visit the shrine. If someone tries to tempt me very dirty and bad, I need to reconsider my faith. Maybe it's because I didn't have the true fragrance of Christ in my appearance. You should repent with the heart that these people might come to you because I smelled dirty. It is the season of flowers. If possible, it would be great if not only the flowers but also the scent were mellow and seductive. We are the fragrance of Christ.
Summer is a particularly stinky season. The color of the smell is also different. Different people, different races, different tastes, different health, different tastes and smells. The same goes for smells from your face, your personality, your words, your actions, and your mood.
Just as intelligence detectives search for the smell of crime, each person has a different smell they want to find. Of course, some people are looking for good smells. However, most of them don't seem to make any effort to make them smell good, even though they are looking for good smells.
This is a story that took place in a certain school in America. It is said that the black child cried when he saw a black child in the same class, and the white child made fun of the 'Stinky face' (stinky child). He was kidding me with the peculiar smell of black skin. Just as each race and each person has a unique smell, the smell of a person's personality appears according to the inner side of a person. In general, we see that the word 'smell' is used as it is when the person's smell is bad, and the word 'fragrance' is used when the person's smell is beautiful. Jesus rebuked the Pharisees and scribes, who were sick on the inside and full of unrighteousness, but who on the outside gave off a disgusting smell without a fragrance pretending to be godly and righteous.
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you clean the cup and the bowl, but inside they are full of greed and debauchery. 26)
Pride and immorality and lies and covetousness and indolence have a disgusting stench.
Conversely, those who are meek and humble, willing to serve and serve, have a beautiful fragrance.
What scent do we think we have? Can we call ourselves fragrant Christians? We must ask ourselves.
The apostle Paul spoke of the fragrance of Christ. Fragrance has neither sound nor color, but through its smell, it refreshes and changes the surroundings. But the problem is that Christians around us emit an unpleasant odor rather than a fragrance. Christians should live a life that breathes the fragrance of Christ. The fragrance of Christians is sometimes a fragrance that overflows with love, a fragrance that overflows with joy, a fragrance that overflows with peace and joy, and a fragrance that overflows with thanksgiving and praise. Therefore, where the fragrance of Christ abounds, a life overflowing with love, joy, peace, joy, thanksgiving and praise is created.
Experimental mice were electrically stimulated and stressed, and then placed in a transparent box with flowers and a box without flowers, respectively. After an hour, most of the mice in the box with flowers were asleep, while the mice on the non-flowered side were still buzzing. When the students took their exams, they placed flowers in one class and nothing in the other class. Most of the students in the class with flowers answered that they took the test comfortably. Blood from laboratory rats and saliva from students were collected and investigated, and it was analyzed that the scent of flowers helped reduce stress. The fragrance of Christ reduces the stress of life. Christians are to radiate the fragrance of Jesus. Christians are fragrant flowers.
A flower without fragrance may be a dead flower or a fake flower. A member who does not smell of Christ is either a dead soul or a fake Christian. Living Flower Do you have the desire to be a flower with the fragrance of Christ?
Chanel No. 5 is a classic perfume that has been loved by women all over the world for decades. It takes 45 kg of rose petals to make 28 grams of Chanel No. 5 perfume. In this way, a huge amount of petals are processed to create a perfume undiluted solution.
A beautiful fragrance is not just made, but is made through a lot of devotion and effort. In the book of Exodus, there is a description of the incense offered to God in the sanctuary. Its incense is the incense of oxalic incense, the incense of nagam and the incense of satire. The incense of oxalic incense and the incense of satire refers to the incense obtained from the sap that comes out of a wood wound. Nagamhyang is an incense made by breaking and grinding turtle shells or shells. The characteristic of all these fragrances is that they can be obtained by breaking, breaking and squeezing. In the same way, the Lord himself was broken and broken on the cross, becoming the fragrance of life that will save the whole world. We are living with Jesus, the fragrance of salvation, in our hearts. If we are truly walking with the Lord all the time, whose fragrance should we show? Of course, the fragrance of Christ must be revealed to the saints who live with Christ. The holy life of the saints becomes the fragrance of Christ before God.
That is, a true Christian reveals the fragrance of Christ in his words and actions. In other words, forgiveness and yield, kindness, sacrifice, meekness, humility, and service must be manifested in our conduct at all times and everywhere. And I pray that the fragrance of Christ will appear as we always rejoice, pray, give thanks, and obey the Word.
* Prayer: Loving Lord, let us go out and enter through Christ, the gate of the sheep. Let the fragrance of Christ permeate us deeply. Make me empty. Make me humble. Let me be your servant. Let the fragrance of the cross permeate. Let me smell of Jesus. Let us rejoice in suffering for the sake of the church of Christ. Pray for them to show interest and love for others and to work hard for evangelism with passion for the gospel. We pray in the name of our Savior Jesus. Amen