A SWEETSMELLING SAVOUR
Wednesday – February 1, 2017
It is hump day, greetings from Eastern Gate Ministries International and The Three Minute Word publications. Thank you for joining us for this teaching. God is so good.
Ephesians 5:1-2 (KJV)
1 Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children;
2 And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour.
We are determined to follow God 24/7 and to move from spiritual childhood to sonship in the Kingdom of God and that road is the road of love, Bible love, obedience to the Word of God. In our text above we find the word ‘Christ’ and as you will recall this can be interpreted as ‘Messiah’, ‘Anointed One’, or ‘The Anointing’. In the context expressed above we are talking about the work of Messiah, the Messiah, Jesus, is the One who went to the Cross of Calvary, He was the offering, He was the sacrifice for us and it pleased the Father. Jesus, The Word, loved us, obeying the Word of God being made sin and taking the punishment in our stead. The writer of Hebrews tells us that Jesus gladly did this for the joy set before him.
Hebrews 12:2 (KJV)
2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
The Father wanted a family and Jesus said I will go and lay the foundation of salvation. It gave Jesus joy because it gave joy to the Father, it was an expression of love for the Father. Jesus, The Word, empowered of the Holy Spirit, the Eternal Spirit, paid the price we could not pay and restored all of mankind who would choose to the Father. True love, Bible love, is always a choice, allows the expression of free-will. When we choose the Father, when we choose The Word of God, when we choose the leadership of the Holy Spirit not only is there great joy in Heaven there is great joy in us as well. Nothing compares to the joy and satisfaction of obeying the Word of God. Looking back at Hebrews 12:2 notice that the benefit of Jesus’ obedience was to “set down at the right hand of the throne of God”. Guess what obedient children of the King get to do? In our obedience we also are seated on the right hand of the throne of God in Christ Jesus.
Ephesians 2:6 (KJV)
6 And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:
Although it is not noted in the preceding verse not only are we in the Holy Spirit, and in Jesus the Head of the Church, we are also in God the Father because Jesus is in the Father and we are in Jesus.
John 17:21 (KJV)
21 That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.
Wow, think about it, in our obedience we are really one with God, each member of the Triune God, and they with us. When we talk about the peace of God we are not just talking about a calm feeling we are talking about being one with God. Whatever God’s circumstances are, those are our circumstances as well. God is not poor, He is not sick, He is not worried about His family, and He is not harried about His will being accomplished in the earth. So, why are we focused on these things? We don’t fully trust Him, we do not have faith in Him, our love is lacking. The circumstances of life cannot be allowed into us they must remain outside of us where they can have no effect on us. Peter was able to walk on the water as long as he focused on Jesus, on The Word, but when he looked at his circumstances it was all over except for the mercy of God.
Jesus was the sacrifice that every Old Testament sacrifice looked forward to and was a sweetness to God.
Leviticus 1:9 (KJV)
9 But his inwards and his legs shall he wash in water: and the priest shall burn all on the altar, to be a burnt sacrifice, an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the LORD.
The word ‘LORD’ in the preceding verse is commonly translated as Yahweh, the self-existent eternal One. This is Father God. The Father wanted a family which was the purpose of Adam the first son of God. His family abandoned Him in treason and joined themselves to another, the devil, with no way back home. Only God Himself could repair the damage, pay the price of sin, and thank God, He was very willing even eager to redeem us. In Leviticus 1:9 the sacrifice is a foreshadowing of Jesus and just like in the first Passover the body of the innocent animal was burnt (consumed entirely by fire) and Yahweh calls this a sweet savour. If you have smelled burning meat and fat it is anything but a sweet smell unless it is reminding you of something much more wonderful, the redemption of the family of Yahweh.
By: Dr. David Wood, Author, Bible Teacher, and Prophetic Voice
