Why Should He Love Us So?

He stood in a chariot drawn by 4 white horses. He was dressed in a purple tunic embroidered in gold & over it wore a purple toga marked out with golden stars. In his hand he held an ivory sceptre with a Roman eagle at the top. And over his head a slave held the crown of Jupiter. Behind him rode his family.

Finally, there was the army itself, file after file of fighting men, wearing all their decorations & shouting cries of triumph to the accompaniment of the cheering crowds. It was a tremendous day – a day of glory for them all!

C. Now let’s go back to the words of Paul & to his mention of the sweet-smelling incense that filled the air in the Roman Triumph. What Paul is saying is that when we do it right - when we live out our Christianity the way we should – the fragrance of Christ begins to saturate us & we smell like Jesus.

There is an aroma of Christ about us that others will notice even when we aren’t conscious of it.

Once again we go back to the Roman Parade. To the general & to the soldiers the smell of the incense was a fragrance of triumph & life. But for the wretched captives who walked in chains it was a smell of death, for it was a constant reminder of their defeat & impending execution.

In the same way, Paul is saying that to those who are being saved, the presence of Christians is a refreshing fragrance that encourages them & reminds them of God’s faithfulness & power.

But to those who are lost, the presence of Christians is an aroma of death - a reminder of their sin & its sentence of death. No wonder they hate us so!

But what can we do? In a world so filled with hatred how can there ever be a change? Folks, I’m convinced that our only hope is Jesus Christ & His power to transform lives. Listen to this true story:

ILL. Mitsuo Fuchida was the pilot in charge of one of the most successful aerial attacks in recorded history. Under his command were squadrons of 360 specially selected pilots, & on Dec. 7, 1941, Fuchida’s squadrons bombed Pearl Harbor.

He quickly became one of the most highly decorated pilots in the Japanese air force, & the one most hated by the American forces. That included Jacob DeShazer, a young B-25 bomber pilot who longed for the day when he would be able to pay Japan back for what they had done.

One day that opportunity arose as DeShazer became a part of the very first bombing raids over Japan. But after dropping his bombs on the city of Nagoya, DeShazer lost his way in the heavy fog & was forced to bail out when his plane ran out of fuel.

He was quickly taken prisoner, & for almost two years, DeShazer suffered from hunger, cold, dysentery, & watching his fellow prisoners die. And the more he experienced this treatment the deeper his hatred of the Japanese grew.

Then, in 1944, someone gave DeShazer a Bible. He started at Genesis & read on & on, barely sleeping. And by the time he had come to the Book of Romans he had surrendered his heart & life to Jesus as his Savior & his Lord.