The teachings of the New Church show that the Lord’s resurrection established a drawing force, a force of attraction that enables all people to be drawn to the Lord.
How is this possible? How does it work?
The Lord’s mercy is like a powerful magnet.
The Lord was motivated by incredible mercy, a love for the human race. Relatively early on in Swedenborg’s experiences in the spiritual world, he connected Divine mercy with Jesus’ resurrection and with the concept of attraction:
“The efficacy and power of the Lord’s resurrection, that is, of His mercy, is nothing else than a living and mighty attraction, since the power of His mercy is of such a nature that He wills to draw all people into eternal happiness, thus to Himself. I have also on one occasion so manifestly felt such a living attraction that I can know with certainty that there is such a force, and what it is like.” (Spiritual Experiences 1104)
There was power in the Lord’s resurrection.
Perhaps Swedenborg was also speaking of the experience of being resuscitated. In another work, Swedenborg speaks of resuscitation as “a living power of attraction that is so great that nothing vital can remain behind [in the natural world].” And then he add, “such is the effectiveness of the Lord’s mercy.” (Secrets of Heaven 179)
Later on in the same work, a similar idea is strongly emphasized:
“The Lord is love itself and mercy. He wills to save everyone and by His mighty power to draw them towards heaven, that is, towards Himself.” (Secrets of Heaven 1038)
This mighty power of mercy is from His love for our salvation. He longs for our spiritual health and safety. He wants to lift us up. He wants to raise us up from our lower loves of worldliness and self-centeredness into more noble loves of one another and of the Lord. He wants to raise our attention from temporal concerns to eternal values. He longs to lead us to be more useful and happier than we could be otherwise. Such is the attractive power of the Lord’s mercy.