“But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of Him. For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. To the one we are the smell of death; to the other, the fragrance of life. And who is equal to such a task?”
2 Corinthians 2:14-16
Every Wednesday evening between the beginning of September and the end of June a group of us gather at First Baptist Church Brampton for a Bible Study. It is such a joyful and wonderful thing to share together with a smaller group of Christian brothers and sisters a time of fellowship and prayer, while we look more deeply into the message of the Scriptures. A number of years ago we spent time exploring the book of the Old Testament prophet Micah. In this book we encounter the warnings of God regarding the coming judgement of the exile that the people of God would experience. The reasons for this judgement are clearly spelled out by the prophet. Mixed in with his words of warning and condemnation Micah gives us some of the most wonderful words of promise and hope.
Here we find the promise of a coming Messiah who will be eternal God come as a human being to serve His heavenly Father. He was to be born into the town of Bethlehem, and would be of the family of David the King. Micah tells us that this Messiah will lead His people into a deep and rich experience of the peace of God. It is wonderful to discuss together the way in which this promise became living reality in the person of Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus Himself points to promises like this as He describes the purpose for which He has come. The Apostle John records that Jesus taught that He is the Good Shepherd who lays His life down for His sheep. Micah pointed to that very thing as being at the heart of the Messiah’s ministry. In His Cross and Resurrection we are reconciled to God.
As the Apostle Paul writes about this reality in 2 Corinthians 2:14-16 he tells us that in these great promises of God we encounter the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. In the message of the Gospel God brings both judgement and hope into our world. What our experience of it will be is determined by how we respond to the Lord Jesus Christ. If we by faith put our trust and obedience in Him we discover that He is our Savoir, who brings into our lives the abundant grace and love of the Gospel. If we reject Him by refusing to believe in Him then to us He becomes our judge. The question is ‘Who is He to you?
Come and join us, if you can on Wednesday nights at 7PM so that you can share in the blessings we are experiencing in our Bible Study.