- 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. For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life. (2 Cor 2:14-16a, ESV)
The picture here is one of the Roman victory procession. Prisoners would be marched through the streets in a parade. The leader of the procession swung a censor back and forth, and the fragrance it emitted was the sweet smell of victory to the crowd; but to the prisoners, that same smell was the smell of their own, impending death. What a vivid picture of the Gospel!
For a Blogospheric example of this, take a look at this recent post from Frank Turk. Frank presents the Gospel in his post. As you look at the comments, you can see that the same exact post evokes blessing and scorn--to those who have life, the Gospel is a beautiful perfume, but to those perishing, it just stinks.
1 comment:
I love these verses! It struck me a few years back that the words "to God" are absolutely central. We are to smell like Christ to God first and not tailor the aroma to what people think smells good. Thanks for the post.
Terry
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