Piper's purpose is to demonstrate that it was in fact Calvin's discovery of the Majesty of God in God's Word that served as the irresistible force behind Calvin's entire life. He seems to have been a singularly focused man. I say that he was driven by an irresistible force because that seems to be how Calvin understood it. He believed that God wants us to see His majesty above all other things. That is why God told Moses to tell the Israelites "my name is 'I am'". The point in this revelation is to demonstrate that, as Piper puts it, "The absoluteness of God's existence enthralls the mind" and the mind should be enthralled by God.
Calvin understood that he would never see the majesty of God; his mind would never be enthralled by God, if God, through the Holy Spirit, did not persuade him. This persuasion was rooted in the Holy Spirit awakening him, as if from the dead, to see the divine reality of God as revealed in scripture. It is only through the Word of God that a person can be saved, but a person cannot trust the Word of God if in it, he or she does not see the majesty of God, and in order to see the majesty of God, the Spirit must awaken the person as if from the dead.
The irresistible force comes into play at this point. Calvin believed that when awakened by the Spirit a person will simply recognize the majesty of God, and without any reasoning or prior consideration, that person will embrace Christ, and his mind will be enthralled by the majesty of God. He will be consumed by a need to display the majesty of God.
Where this leads me personally is to a reflection on my own desire to display the majesty of God. Why does it sometimes flow and sometimes ebb? I reflect on John 15 and realize that it flows when I abide in Christ, it ebbs when I abide outside of Christ. And so my prayer becomes, 'God, help me to abide always in Christ.'
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