SWEET SAVOR!

‘Gardenia Bush’ photo by David J. Stang CC BY-SA 4.0.

You smell good!!!             IF!

If you are a Christian!  ‘For we are unto God a sweet savor of Christ, in them that are saved and in them that perish.’  2 Corinthians 2:15. KJV. Definition: Savor: to enjoy or appreciate something pleasant completely!
And we thought Gardenias smelled good.  (See photo above).

Jesus created all things (Colossians 1:16) including the Gardenia and I’m sure God loves the smell, but what He really, really likes is the ‘savor of Christ’, His son that is on us!  That is because this smell is about obedience and sacrifice and He ‘enjoys it completely!’  It has always been that way.

It all began when Adam and Eve sinned!  God banished them from the Garden, told them what the consequences for their actions would be and in an astonishing act of love, God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them!  It required Him to shed the blood of an animal or animals to acquire ‘coats of skins’!  This is the first instance where God introduced the sacrifice of animals as His way of ‘covering’ sin!  As the scriptures say thousands of years later in the book of Hebrews, ‘without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.’  Hebrews 9:22 and it shows the origin of another scripture found in 1 Peter 4:8, ‘Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.

Matthew Henry in his commentary on the New Testament said, “We may believe (in other words), there are no scriptures that specifically say this, “that God commanded Adam, after the fall to shed the blood of innocent animals, and after their death to burn part or the whole of their bodies by fire.”  This is assumed because we see his son Abel, ‘brought an offering to God—fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock’ and offered it to God and the Lord looked with favor on Abel and his offering.’  Genesis 4:4.

Then again in Genesis 8:20-21 we read that as soon as Noah was able to leave the boat after the flood receded, he ‘built an altar to the Lord and, taking some of all the clean animals and clean birds, he sacrificed burnt offerings on it. The Lord smelled the pleasing aroma and said in his heart: “Never again will I curse the ground because of humans, even though every inclination of the human heart is evil from childhood. And never again will I destroy all living creatures, as I have done.’ It wasn’t the smell of burning flesh that pleased the Lord, but Noah’s sacrifice and obedience to Him!!!  Here we are made aware that the Lord was pleased when He smelled Noah’s sacrificial offering and look at the colossal result of his sacrifice and obedience!  God said, “Never again would He curse the ground!!!”  Compare that to the colossal result of Adam and Eves sin!!!

This reference to the ‘pleasing aroma continues in Numbers 28:2-6.
Here, God instructed Moses to ‘Give this command to the Israelites and say to them: ‘Make sure that you present to me at the appointed time my food offerings, as an aroma pleasing to me.’ Say to them: ‘This is the food offering you are to present to the LORD: two lambs a year old without defect, as a regular burnt offering each day. Offer one lamb in the morning and the other at twilight, together with a grain offering of a tenth of an ephah of the finest flour mixed with a quarter of a hin of oil from pressed olives.  This is the regular burnt offering instituted at Mount Sinai as a pleasing aroma, a food offering presented to the Lord.’

All of these recorded references to sacrificial offerings to God are a prefigure to the shedding of blood and sacrificial death of Jesus on the cross!  That’s why the Apostle Paul admonishes us to walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.’  Ephesians 5:2.

You want to smell good?  Jesus said, ‘Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.’  Matthew 16:24.
Your self denial, acceptance of Christ and obedience will please God and you too will be ‘unto God a sweet savor unto Christ!’

May I encourage you not to forget how wonderful you smell every time you smell something exceptionally fragrant like honeysuckle or a gardenia!!!

LET THIS BE A BLESSING!