Sweet Fragrance

"...just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma." --- Eph. 5:2 b

Today's lesson is will be an introduction to what those in the know call "Shadow Christology." Basically from the time God promised us a Savior in Genesis 3:15 until the last verse of scripture was written in 96 A.D., the entire Bible was filled with these promises looking forward in anticipation of Christ or, after His ascension, looking back at Him. During the time of Moses, the nation of Israel was required to offer animal sacrifices, which symbollically represented what Jesus would actually do on the cross. After Jesus' work on the cross, symbollic acts were no longer necessary. The real thing had already been done.

By saying that Jesus "gave Himself up for us, as offering and sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma," Paul is making the claim that the work of Jesus Christ was completely and solely adequate to propitiate us to God the Father. Propitiation simply means to satisfy God's character. Jesus work was accepted on our behalf by God the Father "as a fragrant aroma." This concept was very familiar to the Ephesians, and it should be for us as well.

To see the signifigance of this we have to go back to the book of Leviticus. In the first chapter, the Lord is giving Moses instructions on how the nation of Israel was to offer a "Burnt Offering." A burnt offering had to be a male animal without defect from either the herd or the flock. The person would take the animal to the entrance of the Tent of Meeting and offer it to God. After it was accepted, he would then place his hands on the head of the animal, which represented a sinful man passing his sins to an innocent animal. The offerer then killed the animal with his own hands. The offerer then skinned the animal and his task was complete. The priest, who was the intermediary between God and the sinful man, then set a fire on the altar and "the priest shall offer up in smoke all of it on the altar for a burnt offering, an offering by fire of a soothing aroma to the Lord."

It's important to know how this statement would have been understood at the time of it's writing. In ancient times people did not have public sanitation as we know it today. Garbage was generally thrown into the streets. Because of this, the streets inside a city were typically very nasty and they did not smell very pleasing. When a person traveled down the street to get to someone's house, before they were allowed to come in the house the custom was to wash their feet. Most houses had a pool at the front gate where visitors would wash off. In wealthy homes, the visitor was usually doused with some sort of perfume or flowers so that when they entered their host's house they would not smell like the garbage they walked through to get there. At this point they were deemed acceptable to enter the house.

When we place our faith in the Gospel of Jesus Christ, we are allowed to enter God's house because He no longer smells our filth, but He smells the "fragrant aroma" of Jesus Christ. When God accepts the offering and declares it a pleasing aroma, it is a done deal. Nothing else can be added to it. God is compeletely satisfied! What an honor it is for us to represent Christ.