by Chris Steele

March 16, 2008

In an instant an odor or smell can bring both pleasant and unpleasant memories from years gone by. One fleeting, passing scent can conjure up a memory of Mom’s apple pie baking in the oven, or the fresh, sweet smell of the air after a spring rain. Then again, another smell may be associated with a very unpleasant experience.

Jacob was able to disguise himself and appear as his brother, by the smell of his clothes. Isaac “...came near, and kissed him: and he smelled the smell of his raiment, and blessed him, and said, See, the smell of my son is as the smell of a field which the Lord hath blessed” (Genesis 27:27).

The scriptures use the figurative language of smells when talking about God and sacrifices. In Leviticus 26:31, God warned Israel saying, if they walked contrary to His ways, He would “not smell the savour” of their “sweet odours.” Sacrifices were said to produce sweet fragrances and aromas. When Paul thanked the Philippian church for the gift they had sent him, he called it “an odour of a sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable, wellpleasing to God (Philippians 4:18).

In Genesis 8:21, Noah offered a sacrifice to God after he and his family left the ark. “The Lord smelled a sweet savour” (“soothing aroma” NKJV). God made a promise that day, that he would never destroy the earth by water again.

Paul told the Ephesians brethren, “Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children; And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour” (Ephesians 5:1, 2).

Under the Law of Moses, God told the priests to offer animal sacrifices in order to atone for their sins. These sacrifices are said to be a “sweet aroma to the Lord” ( Leviticus 4:31).

Jesus Christ was the ultimate sacrifice offered to God, for the sins of all mankind (1 Peter 3:18). When God's children honor the Savior by service to Him and His cause, it evokes the memories of the greatest sacrifice that was offered once and for all. It must have been (and continues to be) the greatest of all fragrances. The sacrifice of Christ's body on the cross, was the spotless lamb of God. It is the odor of a sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable and well pleasing to God. Let us continue in the Lord’s service, that He never rejects the fragrance of our living sacrifice (Romans 12:1, 2).