A Pleasing Aroma to God

September 3, 2014

A Pleasing Aroma to God

“Live a life filled with love, following the example of Christ. He loved us[a] and offered himself as a sacrifice for us, a pleasing aroma to God.”

Ephesians 5:2

Jesus was able to reconcile two seemingly irreconcilable truths he experienced on the cross. By resting in the truth of God’s affirmation of him -- “This is my dearly loved Son, who brings me great joy” -- Jesus was able to confront his negative emotions --“My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?” -- and return to resting in God’s love -- “Father, I entrust my spirit into your hands!” As the followers of Christ, we too are called to reconcile two seemingly irreconcilable truths.

On the one hand, our life, apart from the saving grace of Jesus, is totally repugnant to God. Even so, while we were completely lost in our sin, God loved us and Christ died for us. “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God— not the result of works, so that no one may boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9 NRSV). We have been saved by grace and we live by grace. We can never, ever do anything to earn our right standing with God. Even though God speaks those most precious of all words to us when we come to Him by faith, “This is my dearly loved (Child), who brings me great joy,” nevertheless our works within our own strength are still repugnant to him because they are offered through our sin-broken flesh.

However, Jesus shows us how to reconcile our life in grace with the works of our hands. Jesus “loved us and offered himself as a sacrifice for us, a pleasing aroma to God” (Ephesians 2:5). The Philippians grasped this truth when they sent an offering to Paul while he was in jail. Paul wrote to them that their offering was “a sweet-smelling sacrifice that is acceptable and pleasing to God” (Philippians 4:18). When the love of Christ for us moves us to express his love for others, especially when we give sacrificially of ourselves and our resources, our offering becomes a pleasing aroma to God.

As you seek to make your life a pleasing aroma to God, never forget that it is God working in you to transform your life into a sweet-smelling sacrifice.

 

“For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him” (Philippians 2:13).

“May he equip you with all you need for doing his will. May he produce in you, through the power of Jesus Christ, every good thing that is pleasing to him. All glory to him forever and ever! Amen” (Hebrews 13:21).

Sē’lah

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(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com. The BLOG is also available on Amazon Kindle, by subscription.

Publications by Alex M. Knight:

·        Seeking the Life in Christ, Meditations on the New Testament and Psalms has been published and is now available at Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle.

·        The second edition of  First Think – Then Pray is available on Amazon Kindle.

·        Meditations on The Story of My Life as told by Jesus Christ has been released as an e-book on Amazon Kindle.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188.