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PROGRAM D-7143
Christians should have a distinctive smell about them—the fragrance of The Knowledge of Jesus Christ. We’re talking about that unique Christian perfume as we find it described in 2 Corinthians 2:14-16.
However, note that the passage says that the aroma of Jesus Christ has different effects on different people. To those who know Christ or are searching to know the truth, it is the aroma of life. But to those who are perishing and who have no desire to live any other way, it is the aroma of death. The fragrance of Jesus Christ will attract some people, and it will repel others.
Now, Paul tells us that God has purposely placed us with this distinctive smell among two kinds of people: those who are being saved and those who are perishing, knowing full well that our aroma would attract one group and repel the other.
That shouldn’t surprise us, because, as we read in this passage, “we are to God the aroma of Christ” among these people. What aroma did Christ have? For some people he was the aroma of life and for others the aroma of death.
To the man possessed of a legion of demons, bound by chains, naked and mad, Jesus was the aroma of life as he delivered him from his bondage. To Zacchaeus, a notorious sinner sitting in a tree, Jesus smelled like life, and he followed him. To Mary Magdalene, delivered from seven demons, Jesus was the fragrance of life, the first life she’d ever known. To Peter, who left his smelly fishing boat to follow Jesus, he was the sweetest smell in the world.
But the religious leaders found Jesus’ aroma quite intolerable. They hated his fragrance. To them it was the smell of death, because Jesus threatened their authority, their influence, their livelihood. He forced them to look inside and see what they were really like—dead men’s bones and everything unclean, and they hated his aroma. They wanted to destroy it. It made them most uncomfortable.
We need to be well aware that as we wear the fragrance of The Knowledge of Jesus Christ, it will not always have a pleasing effect on people. In fact, if you haven’t had some adverse reaction to it somewhere along the way, you should ask yourself if anyone can really smell the fragrance on you. In this world, Jesus said, you will have persecution.