Romantic And Religious Fragrance Series

In the tale of the Beauty and the Beast the horrible looking

creature with 7 horns in his forehead begs the beautiful

young maiden he has carried away to kiss him. She, of

course, refuses to kiss such ugliness, and the beast goes away.

She saw it no more until one day she found it lying dead

under a bush in the garden. She wept and cast herself down

on the beast and kissed it. Suddenly it returned to life and

was transformed into the handsomest prince her eyes had

ever beheld. He then explained that he had been bewitched,

and could never be delivered unless a maid fell in love with

him and kissed him. That kiss she gave him removed the

curse, redeemed him from death, and restored him to his

original state.

What a fantastic story of the power of a kiss. It is only a

fairytale, but the truth it relates is the very truth of the

Christian Gospel. The beast represents man under the

curse. He became ugly as he fell from his state of perfection.

He was restored and transformed by the power of God's kiss,

which was the cross. Jesus reconciled God and man by the

power of His kiss of peace at Calvary. In this Song of Songs

we see the Shulamite girl longing for the kisses of her

Shepherd lover, and God answered that longing in the souls

of men to be united with the lover of their souls by sending

His Son in the flesh.

God reached down and embraced His people in Christ.

"He touched me and now I am no longer the same" is the

testimony of those who have responded to His love. But

there is more to a kiss than touch, and that is our theme for

this message. All of the senses are involved in romance and

kissing as we see in this song. Many lovers may never think

of it, but the ears are important in kissing, for no kiss is

complete without sound. Most married people have been in

situation where they have tried to be quiet as they kiss, and

they have discovered that it is hard to kiss right without

noise.

A kiss without sound is like an egg without salt. Most

kisses in a marriage ceremony are not up to par because the

atmosphere is such that the nervous couple feels

conspicuous, and they want to keep the whole thing as quiet

as possible. They aim for a silent kiss, and they quickly learn

that a silent kiss is a crippled kiss. Shakespeare refers to a

groom who took full advantage of his wedding kiss, but he

was an exception. In the Taming of the Shrew he writes,

This done, he took the bride about the neck,

And kissed her lips with such a clamorous smack

That at the parting, all the church did echo.

Sound is a part of a good kiss, and this is true in the spiritual

realm as well. Faith comes by hearing. It is by means of the

ear that we receive the good news, and the sound of that kiss

of reconciliation whereby we are united to Christ. This kiss

is the means by which we become a part of His bride.

The sense of taste is also involved. The Shulamite girl

says, "Your love is better than wine." We will look at love

and wine in greater detail in another message, but we just

want to point out here that love and kissing like all enjoyable

things should taste good. Psa. 34:8 says, "O taste and see

that the Lord is good." Psa. 119:103 says, "How sweet are

thy words unto my taste." Romantic and religious love is to

be sweet to the taste, and be sweeter than wine.

The poet writes,

O lady, there be many things

That seem right fair, below, above;

But sure not one among them all

Is half so sweet as love.

The fact is, if we had more loveaholics in the world there

would be fewer alcoholics, for true love is always better than

wine. The intoxication of love is delightful rather than

disgusting. Dante wrote about the first time that Beatrice

spoke to him. "Because it was the first time any words from

her reached mine ears, I came into such sweetness that I

parted thence as one intoxicated."

The sense we want to focus on in greater detail is one that

we seldom think of, but it is a primary factor in both

romantic and religious love, and that is the sense of smell.

Your nose has much to do with love. Even taste is largely a

matter of smell. Some of you may recall that when you first

began to kiss the one who is now your mate that there was a