Sanctification – The Pestle and the Mortar

Now he uses us to spread the knowledge of Christ everywhere, like a sweet perfume. Our lives are a Christ-like fragrance rising up to God. But this fragrance is perceived differently by those who are being saved and by those who are perishing. 2 Corinthians 2:14–15 (NLT)

We all hold sweet memories in the crevices of our minds that take us back to a special time and place. We remember the scent of a mother’s perfume, the scent of babies, the scent of coffee, the scent of aromatic spices, the scent of flowers. These aromas remain imprinted in our minds and can influence our mood and thought patterns. Just as these aromas can influence us, God calls us to be the aroma that will influence the lives of others.

The aroma that God desires to release in us and spread to others is part of our sanctification process and often comes through crushing in the mortar of hardships and struggles. In the ancient art of perfume-making, different flowers, herbs and spices are crushed to release their fragrance to prepare them for the extraction process. The art of perfume-making dates back 5,000 years to the ancient Egyptians. They had refined perfume-making to such a sophisticated level that when the Egyptian pharaohs’ tombs were opened in 1922, the aroma of the embalming scents still lingered thousands of years later.

The Aroma of Christ’s Love

The perfume, the sweet-smelling aroma that God wants to release in us, is firstly love. Ephesians 5:2 (NKJV) says,

“And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma.”

Just as Christ's sacrifice on the cross became a sweet-smelling aroma, we are to become a sweet-smelling aroma by walking in His love. When we display His love to others – to our fellow believers and unbelievers, we are a testimony of who Christ is. We are spreading the fragrance of the knowledge of Christ (2 Corinthians 2:14). Eugene Peterson, in The Message paraphrase of the Bible, puts it this way, “Everywhere we go, people breathe in the exquisite fragrance. Because of Christ, we give off a sweet scent rising to God.”

This exquisite fragrance of sacrificial love will express itself in Christ-like character traits such as kindness, encouragement, grace, forgiveness, humility, contentment, gratitude, joy, peace, patience and generosity. These character traits, that come through sanctification, through the crushing, are fragrances that will not only last thousands of years, but for all eternity

The sweetest fragrance, the most beautiful aroma that God has ever detected emanating from this planet, was the aroma of the perfect sacrifice of Jesus that was offered once and for all on the cross. R.C. Sproul

Reflection 

Are you experiencing God’s crushing in the mortar of hardship and struggles? Trust Him to release His sweet fragrance that will be breathed in by others who need to know His love.

Prayer

Thank You, Lord Jesus, that Your sacrificial death on the cross is a sweet-smelling aroma to the Father. Help me endure Your sanctifying crushing in the mortar so that You can release Your exquisite fragrance of sacrificial love in me. Help me to spread Your fragrance that has eternal value to others. In Jesus’ name, I pray, amen.