The Magnet

August 10, 1997

John 6:44 No one comes to me unless the Father draws them...

Ephesians 4:32-5:1 [Be kind — like God is kind]

INTRODUCTION

One force in this world is more powerful than any other. It is an attractive, drawing force. Most things we think of as powerful are pushing forces. Engines. Power that can blow you to pieces or land you on the moon. But with all those, a drawing force is ultimately the greatest. Gravity is a powerful force that attracts.

In the realm of personality there are many forces to push us. We have to make a living. We have to obey various laws. We have to get up and go to school. Often the force that pushes us is called a parent. Later we get pushed by teachers. Then a boss of one kind or other. But again, one force, one power that pulls, attracts, draws us, is greater than all of these other powers. There is a hunger for love in us that will pay any price, make any sacrifice if only that need can be met. The whole world seeks after love. Most life-shaping forces for good or for bad are based on this need for belonging, for love.

The greatest love is God's love. It is as silent as gravity, but it is even more powerful. When once we get a glimpse of God's love we can never be really satisfied with anything less. God's love is the center around which all Creation will finally be ordered and arranged. It is also the power that will draw you to the joy of eternal life if you respond to God's Word and come to Christ.

What do these passages tell us about God's kind of powerful love?

THE INITIATIVE IS GOD'S

Jesus said No one comes to me unless the Father draws ...

Mystery - There is always wonder involved when God connects with you and me. There is that little "synapse" that "gap" that Michelangelo graphically painted in his Creation. There is no ability in us to grasp hold of life apart from God's grace.

We "explain" these mysteries so glibly! But wars have been fought over the details of explanation. Reformed/Calvinists emphasize the helplessness of man and the sovereignty of God. In the extreme this means that God chooses who shall be saved and who shall be damned. Wesleyan/Arminians (and long before, all Eastern Christianity) emphasize the free will of men and women. Taken to the extreme it almost seems to make salvation an act of the human will, which no Wesleyan theologian believes. Universalists of various persuasions simply believe everyone will finally be saved, contrary to what the Bible warns, that there is a heaven to gain and a hell to shun.

The fact remains that Jesus said unless and until God convicts of sin and righteousness and judgment we remain helpless and unable to come to Christ. And the fact remains that the Bible teaches both the sovereignty of God and the responsibility of you and me to choose to follow that sovereign will.

If you have any desire to be saved, thank God that he is drawing you, and make up your mind to come to Jesus. For along with the initiative of God, we have the promise:

THE PROMISE IS CHRIST'S

Jesus says "Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out..."

Again and again Jesus made it clear that his mission was to save us from our sins. I came not to condemn the world, he said, but that the world through me might be saved. (Adapted from John 3:17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.)

No doubt people come to church for many reasons. Maybe we even get saved from pressure— forces that "push." But the only way we "stick" is if we find that great drawing power of God's love. Maybe that love is so wonderful we have to discover it over and over again. But let me tell you again: God loves YOU! And He has told you so in Christ! And that is the most wonderful thing in the world!

Choosing to come to Jesus is not simply a matter of our own initiative. Choosing to follow is more than accepting certain true facts about God and Jesus

Choosing to follow Jesus is to enter a trusting relationship; it is to seek to let Christ's spirit (Spirit) reside (preside) in us. (cf. here Ephesians 4:32-5:2)

And that is God's way of spreading that love to all the world:

THE FATHER GIVES HIS LOVE THROUGH THE CHURCH

(epistle) Be ye kind, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, be imitators of God, walk in love...

The love of God is on display in the church. The command to be kind, to love and forgive, to imitate God and walk in love is much more than a plan for harmonious and happy life within the church. It is the secret of reaching the world because it is the release of the magnetic, drawing, attracting power of God's love.

When this love really happens, it is powerfully attractive. A world hungers for real love. This is not simply mutual admiration it is self giving, forgiving, God like, God centered love. All real church growth has to begin and end here or it is not true church growth.

Jesus understood this when he said (John 13: 34-35) A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another, as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one for another.

This great drawing power is not just a gimmick to build the church, however. It is a love that will never let go of us, never, never, never!

THE POWER OF GOD'S LOVE REACHES BEYOND TIME INTO ETERNITY

...THE ATTRACTION IS FOREVER ..Jesus said, "I will raise him up at the last day..."

From all reaches of time and space the Magnet will call, and every atom of the Body will find its place. God's power begins here and now to draw us to himself. THAT 'ATTRACTIVE POWER' WILL UNITE US WITH GOD FOREVER

(Illustration: I cannot imagine what "the Last Day" will be like. Perhaps George O. Cole's illustration of great magnet in steel mill on Friday night, pulling all iron filings from the piles swept up on the floor... But we will meet Jesus! You may be sure!)

TWO THINGS SPEAK TO ME from these passages about God's powerful, drawing love:

1. I need to respond to the love that draws me!!
2. I need to take seriously my part in showing a needy world that love by being kind, tenderhearted, compassionate along with my witness of Christ's salvation.

Prayer

Here I am, Lord. Is it I, Lord?
I have heard you calling in the night
I will go, Lord, if you lead me
I will hold your people in my heart.