Many, many years ago I received a vision concerning the aroma of the prayers of believers. When this happens it is always in a sequence of three. It was the aroma of the incense that I had grown up with in the Catholic Faith. It is as vivid today as it was when I was in my forties. God, through the salvation He provided in Christ Jesus, gave us the ultimate sacrifice…the life of His only begotten Son.
God is good and He is faithful even when we are not!
Sacrifices are pleasing to God!
Revelation 8:4-5
4 And the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, ascended before God from the angel’s hand. 5 Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and threw it to the earth. And there were noises, thunderings, lightnings, and an earthquake.
By these words we understand that the sacrifices were acceptable and pleasing to God. The Lord received Noah’s offering as an act of devotion to Him. The awful devastation of the earth and its fullness that the Flood caused will never be repeated. This is the good news. The bad news is that God knew that the conditions of humankind had not changed. Nonetheless, the promise of God is that overwhelming judgment will not be repeated—not until the final judgment. NKKJ Bible.
God knows that even the flood will not reverse the corruption of the human will and mind. Faithlife Bible.
Genesis 8:20
21 And the Lord smelled a soothing aroma. Then the Lord said in His heart, “I will never again curse the ground for man’s sake, although the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth; nor will I again destroy every living thing as I have done.
The leader in a Roman procession was followed by priests (dispensing incense), officers, soldiers, and captives. The aroma of the event represented victorious life to the soldiers and slavery or death to the captives. In the same way, the gospel message gives life to those who accept it, but it represents death and judgment to those who reject it. The answer to Paul’s question who is sufficient for these things? It is God who makes us sufficient. NKJ Bible.
2 Corinthians 2:16
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?
Christ provides the model for how Christians are to live in love; His sacrificial death is the definition of love. In the old testament, sacrifices are described as having an aroma pleasing to God. Faithlife Bible.
Ephesians 5:1
2 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.
By giving to Paul, the Philippians had offered themselves as a gift to God. NKJ BIble.
Philippians 4:18
18 Indeed I have all and abound. I am full, having received from Epaphroditus the things sent from you, a sweet-smelling aroma, an acceptable sacrifice, well pleasing to God.
No comments:
Post a Comment