"He shall bring it to Aaron's sons the priests: and he shall take there out his handful of the flour thereof, and of the oil thereof, with all the frankincense thereof; and the priest shall burn the memorial of it upon the altar, to be an offering made by fire, of a sweet savor unto the Lord." Lev. 2:2.
The perfectness of Christ in all His path was that He never did anything to be seen of men; it all went entirely up to God. The savor of it was sweet to the priests, but it all was addressed to God. Serving man, the Holy Spirit was in all His ways, but all the effect of the grace thus was in Him, was in His own mind, always towards God, even if for man it was to God. And so with us; nothing should come in, as motive, except what is to God.
We see in Eph. 4:32; 5:1, 2 the grace toward man, and the perfectness of man towards God as the object. "Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children." In all our service as following Christ here, we get these two principles: our affections towards God and our Father, and the operation of His love in our hearts towards those in need. The more wretched the object of service in the latter case, the truer the love and the more simply the motive is to God. We may love down and love up, and the more wretched and unworthy the persons are for whom I lay myself out for blessing, the more grace there is in it. "God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." But while that is true, yet as to the state of my heart, the higher the object, the more elevated the affection. With Christ it was perfect.
How can a poor creature like me be an imitator of God? Was not Christ an example, God seen in a man? And we are to "walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given Himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God." He gave Himself for us, but to God; it was God's grace towards poor wretched sinners.
If we look at ourselves, we shall soon see how motives get mixed up and things come in, even where there is right true-hearted purpose, and that is where we have to watch. In Christ all was perfect; all, every bit of it, as to spring and motive, was for God's glory in this world. No thought of men as to pleasing them, but that singleness of eye which looked to God alone, though full of kindness to man-loving down in that sense, but ever looking up with His God and Father before His eye, which made Him perfect in everything. He was, of course, perfect, could not be anything else.
Now it is not that the priests could not smell the sweet savor, but it was not offered to them, it was all burned to God. As regards His own path, not a feeling that was not entirely to God; it was for us, but to God. It was that which was perfectly acceptable to God.
J. N. Darby
Faith gets hold of the object; hope desires it;
love enjoys it.
The Lord Jesus reveals the secrets of the heart
(John 4). The Scripture does this also, and the
gathered assembly in the power of the Spirit
(1 Cor. 14:23, 24).