TOPIC : THE AROMA OF THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST

Read: 2 Corinthians 2:14-17(NKJV) 

14. Now thanks [be] to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place.
15. For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing.
16. To the one [we are] the aroma of death [leading] to death, and to the other the aroma of life [leading] to life. And who [is] sufficient for these things?
17. For we are not, as so many, peddling the word of God; but as of sincerity, but as from God, we speak in the sight of God in Christ.

MESSAGE

STUDY: In today’s passage, Paul likened himself and everyone who preaches the gospel of Christ as an ‘aroma.’ The Greek word for ‘aroma’ /osman/ refers to a smell given off which affects those who come in contact with it.

The preaching of the word of God is the aroma that is emanating from Christians. It is a sweet-smelling aroma to those who favourably respond to the preaching of the gospel, and to those who reject, a smell of destruction (v.15). Paul used his knowledge of the Romans to explain the two outcomes of the aroma. When the Romans returned triumphantly from battle, they would burn the incense of victory to their gods. Some of their captives were set free, while others were executed. The fragrance of their incense, therefore, meant life to some and death to others.

Though, the aroma of the gospel of Christ is meant to give life but anyone who rejects it is already condemned (v.16; Jn. 3:18). Christians are the vessels through which God propagates the aroma of the gospel of Christ (Mat. 28:19-20). Our lives ought to reveal Christ to others. We should also be mindful not to preach the gospel of Christ for material gains as some do, rather we should see it as a commission from God (v.17).

PRAYER: Help me O Lord, that my life may possess the aroma of your word, so that my life may be a pleasing aroma to the world for the sake of Jesus Christ. Amen.

The Anglican Communion is the fourth-largest Christian denomination. Founded in 1867 in London, England, the communion currently has 85 million members within the Church of England and other national and regional churches in full communion.