Smells like Jesus

Hey church, I’m glad to be bringing your midweek motivation this week.

You know, we’re at the time of year when summer vacation is ending, students and teachers are going back to school, many of us try to get away for a few days before things get cranked back up.

My family was blessed, the 1st week of August, to spend a few days at the beach & man it was great. The sun, white sand beaches, and saltwater waves just felt so good. Of course, you can look at me and can tell that I had to wear a lot of sunscreen. Even after we came home, there was the slight smell of the beach- sun, sand, saltwater, & sunscreen; on us to remind us of the week we had.

Smells are powerful. They can bring back a memory in a heartbeat. One minute you can be sitting somewhere and a smell can hit you and transport your memory to your childhood, your grandma’s kitchen, eating that special breakfast she made for you, or that vacation you had with your family.

Smells are powerful, and when you catch a whiff of a good smell- freshly baked bread, or apple pie, it can be amazing; or disgusting, like when you catch the scent of a dead skunk.

What do you smell like? When people get around you, do they catch the scent of something sweet, the pleasing, fragrant aroma of a person who has been with Jesus? Or do you smell like death to them?

2 Corinthians 2:14–17, 14 Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place. 15 For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing. 16 To the one we are the aroma of death leading to death, and to the other the aroma of life leading to life. And who is sufficient for these things? 17 For we are not, as so many, peddling the word of God; but as of sincerity, but as from God, we speak in the sight of God in Christ.

There are some things that catch my attention in these verses about the influence Jesus has over us, and the influence that we have over others, when we smell like Jesus to them.

1. To smell like Jesus, we must be captivated by Him- we are led by him in victory procession.

God always leads us in triumph in Christ… The image Paul is using is probably that of a Roman general that has taken a city captive, its citizens become his prisoners of war, and leads them in victory procession. It’s very much like what he means in Ephesians 4:7–8, But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift. 8 Therefore He says: “When He ascended on high, He led captivity captive, and gave gifts to men.” Through Christ we become prisoners of God’s war against sin and death, we were captive to both of them until God set us free in Christ, and being set free in Christ we now follow Him in victory. He’s the General, and we are captivated by Him.

2. To smell like Jesus, we must make known what we know about Him- diffused.

Through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge… Diffusers have become common place.

ILL: Diffuser- this magic device my wife has in our home; You put water in this tank, put in a couple drops of essential oil, & magically this mist comes out and diffuses the smell of the oil; i.e. it spreads the fragrance of the oil and it smells good.

What Paul is telling us is that we are to be diffusers of the knowledge of Christ; i.e. we spread the Gospel. We spread the knowledge of God through His Son Jesus Christ. When we do that:

We smell like JESUS to God, & it is a good smell to Him.

He loves the smell of His Son, it is a fragrant offering to Him. Ephesians 5:2, walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma. Not only that, when we spread the knowledge of God through Jesus...

We smell like LIFE to those being saved, and it is a good smell to them.

Just like different smells smell differently to different people, to some people, those who receive the Gospel, the smell of Jesus on us is the smell of life.

To others, those who reject the Gospel, the smell of Jesus is the stench of death.

We smell like DEATH to those who are perishing.

We can’t control the reaction of others to the smell of Jesus, but we can control whether or not we will smell like Him. Now, no one is really sufficient for that.

In other words, we are not adequate or able to be the smell of Jesus, spreading the knowledge God through Him on our own. No, in order to influence others as Jesus has influenced us, we need this:

3. To smell like Jesus, we must make known what God has said about Him.

We have to do that:

With Simplicity- the only thing complicated about the Gospel is our response to it.

It’s easy to understand but hard to obey! We are sinners, separated from God. He sent His only begotten, beloved Son to be the sacrifice for our sins and our substitute on the cross, so that if we would repent of our sins and receive Him as our Lord we would be saved. Simple, but not easy!

In Sincerity- our only motive is to speak the truth of God in the person and work of Jesus Christ. For us to to do that, we need to spend time with Him.

Which brings me back to my original question- What do you smell like? Who do you smell like?

Do you smell like Jesus? Is He your General? Are you following Him in victory? Do you spread the knowledge of Him to those who are around you? Are you spending time with Him in His Word?

To smell like Jesus is a powerful thing. It can change your life, and the lives of those around you.