Plants in the Garden of the Lord (5)

Your plants arean orchard of pomegranates
With pleasant fruits,
Fragrant henna with spikenard,
Spikenard and saffron,
Calamus and cinnamon,
With all trees of frankincense,
Myrrh and aloes,
With all the chief spices—
A fountain of gardens,
A well of living waters,
And streams from Lebanon. Song of Solomon 4.13-15

A fragrance of Christ?
The Apostle Paul wrote that the Church is a fragrance of Christ to the world: “For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing” (2 Cor. 2.15). By this he meant that every believer, and every congregation of believers, establishes a presence of Christ in the world which is palpable to others. Where believers are present, Jesus is present, and the fragrance of His life is real and potent.

Peter wrote the same, saying that the hope we enjoy, the hope of glory, will shine through those who are living in full faith with such clarity that people will be drawn to ask a reason for it (1 Pet. 3.15).

Believers must be mindful that, as the ambassadors of Jesus Christ, we represent Him to the world. We wouldn’t think of going to work or school or any social event with our bodies smelling and wreaking of dirt and sweat. We shouldn’t go out into the world without making sure that the fragrance of Christ is hanging on us, either. Christ in us is a Tree of spices, a Fountain of gardens, and a Well of living water as we walk in full faith in His Spirit. He is a real and arresting fragrance to the people around us.

Conforming to Christ
But what is that fragrance? How should we expect others to experience the presence of Jesus in us?

In two ways, primarily: The truth of the Gospel and the love of Jesus Christ.

God’s truth speaks to every aspect of human life, all our relationships, roles, and responsibilities. The truth of God drives back the darkness of unbelief and allows the new day of Jesus to shine into every place we go and everything we do. By His Word of Truth, in the hands of His Spirit, Christ is making all things new in our lives (Rev. 21.5).

This means that in every area of our lives, Christians exhibit a newness which conforms not to the spirit of the world but to the Holy Spirit of Christ. Our conversation will be different – not filled with carping and complaining, triteness and frivolity, gossip and criticism and mean-spiritedness; instead, our words will always be gracious and edifying, respectful of the people with whom we converse (Col. 4.6; Eph. 4.29). And we will always be ready with a word of witness to explain the hope others see in us (1 Pet. 3.15).

So also with the ways we do our work, raise our children, participate in the culture of our day, and conduct ourselves with dignity and grace. Words like decency, dignity, joy, considerateness, excellence, curiosity, kindness, thoroughness, confidence, hope, and so forth will characterize everything we do in life. We are new creatures in Jesus Christ, formed by His Word of truth and, therefore, in many ways, we will be out of step with the surrounding culture. But by living the truth in every aspect of our lives, we will shine the light of Jesus and exude the fragrance of His worldview into every nook and cranny of our lives.

The love of Christ
Coupled with the love of Christ, this can be a powerful force for the Gospel. The truth we are learning to obey is always lived and spoken in love (Eph. 4.15). Our words may be hard to hear, our lives may stand out as decidedly different, but if we couch and garb them in the self-denying, sacrificial love of Jesus, others will hear and respect our lifestyle, and may even come to want to know more about it (Mic. 4.1-5).

To be sure, not everyone will welcome this fragrance of Truth and love. Paul continued, “To the one we are the aroma of death leading to death, and to the other the aroma of life leading to life.” The truth and love of Jesus will offend some, but that will only be because their spiritual olfactory sense is hardened to the things of the Lord.

Hard work
The life of full faith requires that we work hard at being the fragrance of Jesus. By steeping ourselves in God’s Word, living in an attitude of prayer, and having other believers to encourage, instruct, and correct us, we will strengthen our souls and cultivate the rich potential of our lives for blessing others and honoring the Lord. Thus we may waft the fragrant smell of King Jesus into more of the everyday aspects and areas of our lives, until Jesus fills the all things of our lives with Himself (Eph. 4.8).

The garden of the Lord is filled with the spiritual essences of holy, fruitful, serving, witness-bearing living. Let us resolve to be that fragrance of truth and love, and we will find that the Wind of God’s Spirit will accompany us everywhere we go, sending the aroma of Jesus to all and every, as well as to God.

For reflection
1.  How can you tell when you are in the presence of someone who is the fragrance of Jesus?

2.  Why should we expect that some people, sensing Jesus in us, might find that to be an aroma of death? How should we respond to them?

3.  As you think about your own walk with the Lord, what does it mean for you to “work hard at being the fragrance of Jesus”?

Next steps: Spend an extended season of prayer waiting on the Lord to show you how you might more consistently become the fragrance of Christ in your sphere of influence.

T. M. Moore

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This week’s ReVision study is Part 5 of a 10-part series, “Full Faith.” You can download “Plants in the Garden of the Lord” as a free PDF, prepared for personal or group study. Simply click here.

Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.