SMELLS,
FRAGRANCES, AND ODOURS
IN
THE CHURCH
written
by Andrew Corbett
But thanks be
to God, who always leads us in victory through Christ. God uses us to spread
his knowledge everywhere like a sweet-smelling perfume.
(2 Cor 2:14 NCV)
In the Song of Songs, there is a beautiful
picture of Christ and the Church.
-
We are introduced to the Lover (Christ) as
One who has a sweet perfume fragrance- (Song 1:3 NIV) “Pleasing
is the fragrance of your perfumes; your name is like perfume poured out.
No wonder the maidens love you!”
-
As the Lover tends His garden (the Church),
it too begins to exude a sweet smelling fragrance- (Song 1:12 NIV)
While the king was at his table, my perfume spread its fragrance. The bride
talks of herself as the king’s garden and says- “There are young figs
on the fig trees, and the blossoms on the vines smell sweet…” (Song
2:13 NCV).
-
The theme of the Song of Solomon is-
_ _ _ _ . Therefore, the fragrance of God is- _ _ _ _ .
-
We see from the message of the Song of Songs
that God wants His Church to be a- _ _ _ _ _ _ _ church.
-
Paul says that the Church is a
_ _ _ _ _ smelling fragrance.
-
Therefore it is our aim as a Church to become
more smelly! (In a sweet way of course.)
-
Understanding the message of the Song of Songs,
we see that our fragrance is proportional to our love.
The bride in the Song of Songs describes her
Lover (Jesus) as being “…like a bunch of flowers from the vineyards
at En Gedi.” (1:14). Therefore, God smells.
-
This is not surprising, considering the very
essence of God is _ _ _ _ (1Jn 4:16).
We
want to be very fragrant spiritually.
What is this
fragrance that the Bible is talking about? It is love...
Love is a feeling. Love is a special
way of acting. Love is a way of thinking.
Love cares most for someone other
than yourself.
Love is sincere. It is genuine.
THE
FRAGRANCE OF OUR HEAVENLY FATHER
The love of the Father is un_ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ .
In the Old Testament, the words most used
to describe God’s love are-
‘ahab
This word for God’s love occurs 250 times in the Old Testament. It describes
spontaneous and outflowing love.
hesed A word denoting deliberate
choice of affection and kindness. This word is often translated as “mercy”,
“kindness”, or “steadfast love”.
(The International Standard
Bible Encyclopaedia, Vol. 3, pg. 173-174)
Jesus described the love of the Father by
saying-
“…He causes the sun to
rise on good people and on evil people, and he sends rain to those who
do right and to those who do wrong”
Matthew 5:45
Jesus made it clear that His followers must
have the same fragrance of their heavenly Father-
“If you love only the
people who love you, you will get no reward. Even tax collectors do that.
And if you are nice only to your friends, you are no better than other
people. Even those who don’t know God are nice to their friends. So you
must be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.”
Matthew 5:46-47
Obligations
1. We spread the fragrance of God’s love
like a sweet-smelling perfume when we spend time in God’s presence- privately,
and corporately.
2. We can intensify the fragrance of God
on our lives when we flow in the Father’s love.
3. The greatest display of love in the
world today should be in the church and amongst believers, their families
and their friends.
Amen.
Next
study: The Different Brands of Loving Perfume
(c) 1997-2000, Andrew Corbett, Legana, Tasmania,
Australia
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