The Irresistible Christ

At the precipice of attraction, a piece of iron begins to shake and jitter at the presence of a nearby magnet. Give that same piece of iron a nudge, and it will forget its once static and lonely position only to discover the birthing of a desire it must follow: to be joined with the origin of that force of attraction.

As small children, we were all fascinated by the action of magnets on small metal objects. There was nothing else like it. A mysterious force seemed to reach out through thin air and draw them together! It could be felt--but not seen. The very fact that we couldn't explain it was what made it so mystifying. It almost seemed other-worldly.

Jesus Christ embodies and far surpasses this magnetic quality. While a magnet produces a magnetic field of finite magnitude, the pull and charm of Christ is irresistible and without limit. The most attractive personality that ever lived, without rival, is Jesus Christ. The Lord whom we worship is captivating, compelling and alluring, having such a great influence over humanity, He is almost impossible to resist.

Biblically, after the Holy Spirit descended and rested upon Jesus, His public ministry began. As a new creation man in his Father's carpentry shop, He was obscure and unnoticed, but when the Spirit fell, suddenly multitudes were attracted to Him. Throughout the sacred pages of the four Gospels, we see the power of Christ's magnetic call exerting supernatural force upon the hearts and minds of those called to follow Him:

"And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. And they straightway left their nets, and followed him" (Matt 4:19-20).

Those called immediately abandon the tools of their trade—their nets, which enable them to literally scoop up their livelihood— and without reluctance, hesitance, or even making a list of pros and cons, leave the security of all that they know to follow a man they'd never met, yet couldn't resist. Many of those drawn as His disciples began as disreputable:

"As Jesus sat at meat in [Matthew's] house, many publicans and sinners sat also together with Jesus and his disciples: for there were many, and they followed him" (Mark 2:15, emphasis added).

From fishermen to tax collectors to those identified not by occupation but by the nature of their flaw, they were drawn to Him like the invalid to a doctor. How was it that they felt comfortable in His presence? Why weren't they intimidated by His holiness in contrast to their own sinfulness? They all had sordid pasts to live down; they all had evil reputations that preceded them. They all had skeletons in their closets, yet they were drawn to Him. They wanted to be around Him.

How was it that they were willing to come into the Light of His presence and tarry with Him? Could it be that the Light of His presence was a covering presence before it was an exposing one?

The publicans and sinners had no peace in the presence of the religious scribes and Pharisees who viewed them as second-class citizens, social outcasts and unworthy vagabonds. How often these poor publicans and sinners were rejected, expelled, and cast out by the so called godly. But not so with Christ: with Him, they felt accepted, loved, and forgiven. They felt a hope to rise above their present failures and deplorable conditions. They sensed their worth in spite of their guilt, defect and brokenness, making them feel unlike the religious world did.

He made them feel like they were somebody, and in so doing, they experienced a magnificent attraction to Him. They beheld a throne of mercy in the heart of Jesus, and they were drawn to the magnetic pull of His love.

The famous Messianic chapter of Isaiah 53 declares, he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. Indeed, it was not a natural magnetism that drew men to Christ, but the supernatural-drawing power of His person and His gospel. This supernatural and magnetic attraction to Christ and His gospel is still intact today. It is the irresistible force of His glorious gospel that is the hope of the harvest.

The God that made a sunrise over the waters of the Bahamas is the same God that made the gospel gloriously attractive to mankind. If sinners could ever hear the unadulterated gospel preached the way God wants it preached, they'll be riveted to the spot and listen with greater awe than they look upon a Bahamas sunrise. If we can get the right message on the lips of God's messengers, we can change the world and release the magnetic attraction of the irresistible Christ.

We have been effective in declaring what's wrong with America (abortion, no prayer in schools, same sex marriage), but we have failed to present a cosmic vision of Jesus that would prove irresistibly appealing to our nation.

In this glorious gospel message, there is no trace of condemnation or guilt. The message we have been given to preach by God is void of His anger and pregnant with His love. It is the message of forgiveness, healing, deliverance and hope for every person, regardless of their past.

The gospel is God's explosion of love and compassion throughout the earth, and so it draws the multitudes to itself with magnetic and compelling force. It is God's divine strategy in every generation for world evangelization; it is His Great Commission.

Jesus said, "If I be lifted up, I will draw all men unto me" (John 12:32, emphasis added). This means that while lifting Him up in holy adoration, we will release His magnetism like a great tsunami breaking on the shores of our cities, regions and nations. The worshipping Church beholding the beauty of the Lord will become the harvesting Church winning the souls of "all men" to Christ.

Isn't the Church the body of Christ in the earth today? Shouldn't the world sense and experience the same magnetic influence and attraction through us as they did through Jesus when He walked on planet earth in His Incarnation? So why, in a world saturated with churches like chain coffee shops on every corner, don't sinners of today follow after Christ as the multitudes did in scripture? Perhaps the Church desperately needs to create this same atmosphere of love, acceptance, and forgiveness that Jesus did when He welcomed sinners rather than repelling them.

Jesus, our High Priest, is a restorer and intercessor, not an accuser or rejecter. We as His body must clothe ourselves in the same magnetic role, not by pointing and shaking our fingers in condemnation but by extending our hands in acceptance and love. This is the heart of the Gospel message we now need to herald in our communities.

The sad commentary is that we, the Church, have not always represented Christ to the world as we should. In many respects, we represent an angry Messiah fed up with the sins of the world. In many circles the Church has become a repellant to sinners. They push us away, the poisoned turning down the antidote, and we blame their refusals on their sinfulness and hardheartedness. We must recapture the magnificent magnetism of Christ and His Gospel.

Never forget: religion and legalism are repugnant to the world. Is it any wonder that the scribes and Pharisees of Jesus' day were repugnant to the publicans and sinners?

Christ's magnetic force resides in us. Do we believe this? Because if we do--if we know who we are--we won't try to be what we're not. Why be a poor imitation when we can be the original article? As He is, so are we in this world, and the emergence of the New Creation man within us will be our greatest attraction to win a lost world to Jesus. In Christ's love, we'll pluck them out of the old and plant them into the new. All of creation is groaning for the manifestation of the New Humanity called the Sons of God (Rom 8:19-22). God will not fail to answer their cry!

Scripture declares that "all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the LORD" (Num. 14:21). In another place it declares, "For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea" (Hab. 2:14). These prophetic passages present an optimistic view of the future rather than the gloom-and-doom mentality dumped on us by some. I firmly believe that God doesn't intend to destroy the earth in His wrath, but to ultimately fill it with His glory.

As modern-day believers, we have all felt the magnetic influence of His presence and glory. To the elect, His presence and glory exert an irresistible and captivating attraction. While cockroaches flee to dark corners at the flick of a light switch, that same light beckons the moth, which will straightway seek to join itself with it. So let God arise out of the vessels He has prepared to showcase His glory in this hour!

I believe that the next step in the progressive plan and purpose of God is the awakening of the beauty, majesty, and glory of Jesus, all divinely magnetic qualities, through His elect lady, the Church. This is the generation of the Esther Church that will, unlike queen Vashti, unveil her beauty and glory before the king. The Greater One that indwells us will be admired by the world through us (II Thess 1:10). As an artist puts his portraits on public display at an art gallery, so the Lord will demonstrate His artistic workmanship through the Church (1 Pet 2:9).

Though the gross darkness of this present hour seems to be enveloping the earth, the Light of His exquisite loveliness will shine through and create such a global appreciation for Jesus, that like a moth to flame, multitudes from all nations shall bow down and worship Him.

All nations whom thou hast made shall come and worship before thee, O Lord; and shall glorify thy name. (Psa 86:9)