As Jesus said, “If I be lifted up I will draw all men unto me.” He was lifted up once and for all on the cross. His lifting up is made visible to men when we, as He commands, “Take up your cross and Come follow me.” This is the meek and lowly heart of reconciliation, “Father forgive them, for they know not what they are doing.” The lamp of His character must be set upon the lampstand of His people shining light into the world. When the lamp is under the bushel, His character is being hidden by the straw of man’s carnal agendas and fallen nature. In the letters to the churches in John’s revelation, the “wrath” of Jesus Christ is expressed to the messengers (presbyters, apostles, stewards) of the churches precisely because they are “suppressing the truth in unrighteousness.” They are allowing conduct that obscures the goodness of God, thus misrepresenting Him to the nations. It is not arbitrary violations that bring wrath. It is when our lives cause the misrepresentation of His character.

Our calling is to be partakers of the divine nature. We are called, chosen and predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son. Jesus is the radiance of the Father’s glory and the exact representation of His nature and all things hold together by the power of His word. When we walk in the spirit, we manifest the fruit of the spirit and God will set us on the lampstand. His radiance will draw all men. When we walk in the flesh, He will warn us extensively, but eventually the swelling will grow until He says, “Unless you repent, I will remove your lampstand from its place.” The further we move away from the radiance of the Father’s glory and the exact representation of His nature, the more things fall apart (wrath/chaos/darkness/destruction). The more we press into the mark of the prize of the upward call of God, the more things “hold together” (grace/order/light/multiplication). We as believers are charged to be priesthood, offering acceptable sacrifices to God, surrounding Him with transparent reflections of His character, ambassadors of reconciliation. This is what it means to be “inside the city.”

Outside the city, the grapes of the wine wrath of God are being trampled. That’s right. His wrath makes wine. When He is through threshing out the grapes, there is a fragrant aroma of Christ remaining. But only after the “lees” (residue of the grape mash) are separated from the wine (see Jer. 48:10-13 for the Father’s wine making recipe). This is the view of the wrath of God I prefer most. He must sometimes tread on us in order to separate out of us the residue of the old man. Then He must pour us from vessel to vessel, as our faith is purified through trial and tribulation, until a clear fragrant wine remains- worthy to be tasted by the King or shared with the world in the New Wineskin. The more we “Press in to the upward call in Christ,” the less we must be “Pressed in the winepress of the wrath of God.” One of the rewards of the overcomers is to escape the “hour of trial” that must come upon all those who “dwell on earth.” This is the “crown of life.”

For believers, it is not given to fellowship in the wrath of God, unless we first fellowship in the mercy of God. Then perhaps, we might at sometime be given a word of correction to stem the plague among God’s people – but only in the fellowship of His jealousy for them, not in the self-righteousness of superior knowledge or some sense of superior holiness. Jesus’ “feelings” arose out of His love for the people and His faithfulness to reveal God as the lover of all, no respecter of persons, a God of freely given grace. Our “feelings” usually arise out of our own agendas and desire to be “right.” Moses struck the rock, and it prevented him from entering the Promised Land. This illustrates the limitation of the law. In striking the rock, the law could never bring the Promised Land, which is partaking of the divine nature- “Christ in you the hope of glory.” We speak the truth in love- “speaking to the rock,” so that living water can come forth from the inner man.

Covenant Prayer Life Assembly, 6, Unity Crescent, off Olatunji Street, Ladipo, Oshodi, Lagos. Contact us on 08034849689, or e-mail: [email protected]
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