Freedom House Church and Healing Centre

Scented Letters

(2Cor. 2:14 – 3:18)

Hello Saints,

Do you remember the children’s books that taught children colors, words and smells? Like the ones that teach about fruits and flowers, and you scratch the picture of the object, and it releases the fragrance of that object. Maybe they are still in use today? Or remember walking into Sears or Eaton’s (FYI - extinct department stores) and being handed a card containing the newest perfume scent. Back in the Victorian Era, it was all the rage to send scented letters as a means to evoke memory and feelings between friends and lovers. Of course, it is the French under Louis XIV who are credited with this practice, but historians can trace the practice all the way back to early Egypt. Scents have been used in religious services for years – think incense, Midnight Mass, etc. Do we still write letters? It’s hard to scent an email, isn’t it? When was the last time you received a real letter? Is there a place they haven’t banned wearing perfumes? Times have changed! I think perfumed stationary may be making a comeback! I digress.

Smells and letters evoke memories, and feelings; They communicate something about the sender. The Apostle Paul uses both images to describe followers of Jesus: 

• But thanks be to God, who made us His captives and leads us along in Christ's triumphal procession. Now wherever we go He uses us to tell others about the Lord and to spread the Good News like a sweet perfume. (2 Corinthians 2:14 NLT)
• Clearly, you are a letter from Christ prepared by us. It is written not with pen and ink, but with the Spirit of the living God. It is carved not on stone, but on human hearts. (2 Corinthians 3:3 NLT)

Scented Letters…that’s what we are! Chanel and Dior can’t duplicate the scent that we give off, because this one is created by the Master scenter of the universe. We used to stink…like death. Now we give off the glorious fragrance of new life! The Spirit of God has made us new; The Old is gone! This fragrance is not applied externally to mask our true smell. No, this beautiful scent emanates from the inside, out of the new heart we have been given. As scented letters, we are to be read and smelled by the world around us. We communicate a message, evoke feelings in others, and even cause a reaction – we can be offensive or attractive. What message do we communicate? What are people reading when they see us? Do we know that we bare the image of the one who re-created us? If Holy Spirit is Lord, here’s what we communicate:

1.  Victory in Christ (2:14): over sin and death – sin doesn’t rule us, Holy Spirit does
2. Righteousness of Christ (3:9): forgiven, no condemnation because of His imputed virtue
3. Hope through Christ (3:12): a remaining glory that will be fully realized in heaven
4. Freedom in Christ (3:17): not bound by the letter of the law, but free to live in submission to the indwelling Spirit who is Lord of our lives
5. Christlikeness (3:18): transformation into His likeness through the work of Holy Spirit in our lives – going from glory to glory 

Friends, I just want to encourage you that because of Jesus, you are radically different than the world and give off a different fragrance. You communicate a different message because you are a billboard for the transforming power of Christ in your life. You shine as stars in the universe (Phil. 2:15) signalling to the whole world that the God of the universe has made you new, and what He did for you, He can do for others. You are a living epistle, signed and sealed with the fragrance of Heaven. Let’s live as the glory revealers we are.

Peace and joy!

"Advancing the Kingdom of God by releasing Spirit-filled followers to serve Jesus in freedom and joy."