“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.”

(2 Corinthians 2:14)

Not everyone loves fragrances. I, for one, find it a thrill to nose-shop for interior fragrance oils; one of my friends, on the other hand, gets a migraine just by standing next to someone wearing perfume on the train. Even among fragrance enthusiasts, they can have very different feelings towards the same smell.

As Christians of the True Jesus Church, ever since our baptism, we have been gifted with a spiritual perfume called the “aroma of Christ”. This perfume smells of the knowledge of Christ; when we wear it, and others smell it, they can tell that we are people who know Christ, because we radiate His image through our good works while sincerely sharing the gospel (Matthew 6:16; 2 Corinthians 2:17). 

Some will hate the aroma of Christ, because they willfully reject the gospel and want to continue perishing – for them, the aroma of Christ reminds them of difficult truths that they do not want to think about, such as the transience of life, the finality of death, and the existence of hell. For wilfully deadened noses, the aroma of Christ smells of condemnation.   

Some, on the other hand, will be drawn to the aroma of Christ – these are the people who allow their sins and insufficiency to be exposed by the gospel, before humbly asking the question “What must I do to be saved?” (Acts 16:30). And because they humble themselves under the mighty hand of God, the aroma of Christ will lift them up into eternal life (1 Peter 5:6).   

So, two reflective questions for us today: 

1. As a believer, have I been faithfully diffusing the aroma of Christ to the people around me?

2. When I smell the aroma of Christ in my life – from the bible, from my prayers in the Spirit – what is my response? Do I recoil and resist, or do I reflect and repent? 

Jesus, Rose of Sharon, bloom within my heart;

Beauties of Thy truth and holiness impart,

That wherever I go my life may shed abroad

Fragrance of the knowledge of the love of God. 

(Hymn 334, “Jesus, Rose of Sharon”)