2 Cor.2:14 – Now thanks be unto God, which always causes us to triumph in Christ, and makes manifest the savor of his knowledge by us in every place.
There is a fragrance, a sense of Christ that is on all of those who walk with the Lord. Our message carries this fragrance everywhere it goes. Think about it like this, before Paul was converted he was said to be breathing in and out hatred toward Christ. This breath has a foul smell about it, the smell of profanity and death. After Paul’s conversion he was living in a different atmosphere breathing a different kind of life. Paul was now a lover and carried the sweetness of Christ wherever he went rather than the smell of death. It’s the same for us today, we carry the fragrance of the atmosphere we live and breathe in. Here is how Jonathan Edwards describes this verse.
“Ministers are as it were the vessels that carry the sweet ointment of the name of Christ, whose name is said to be as ointment poured forth. When they preach the gospel, this ointment is poured forth. Christ is the fragrant rose. That knowledge of Christ that is diffused by his ministers is the savor of this rose, and this is the savor that the Apostle speaks of. This is always a sweet savor to God. The name of Christ is ever delightful to God; and the preaching of Christ in the world, whether to elect or reprobates, is acceptable to God, as he delights in having the name of his Son glorified, for Christ’s being made known to those that perish shall be greatly to the glory of Christ. God loves to have the name of his Son made known to all men for his Son’s glory, so that the knowledge that reprobates receive of Christ, by the preaching of the gospel, is a sweet savor to God; for wherever the name of Christ is found, it is acceptable to God.”
This passage in 2 Corinthians and Jonathan Edwards’ description of it helps us to see just how powerful our presence and words can be in our depraved world. Christ lives within His people and everywhere we go we bring the sense of the Lord with us. When we speak of Him and all He has done in our lives His sweetness fills the room. Don’t take lightly who you are and what is on you, Christ in you is changing your world.
