FIRST LOVE (Revelation 2:1-7)

“I have this [charge] against you, that you have left your first love [you have lost the depth of love that you first had for Me]… But I have this complaint against you. You don’t love Me or each other as you did at first!” (Rev 2:4; AMP; NLT).

The Resurrected Christ tells John that the Church in Ephesus has abandoned her first love she had for Him. Jesus speaks intimately, as a Bridegroom speaks to His future Bride. This letter was written about 95AD. Just a generation after the Cross, the Church behaves like an adulterous wife!!! The believers were still attending church, but they also serve idols. It is the same old story of unfaithfulness that we see in the Old Testament. “Go and cry in the hearing of Jerusalem, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord: “I remember you, The kindness of your youth, The love of your betrothal, When you went after Me in the wilderness, In a land not sown… 12 Be astonished, O heavens, at this, And be horribly afraid; Be very desolate,” says the Lord. 13 “For My people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters, And hewn themselves cisterns—broken cisterns that can hold no water. (Jer 2:2;12, 13). Have you ever felt the pain of Christ?

Jesus sees three commendable things about the church at Ephesus. First, they were committed workers. They witnessed; they labored; they ministered to human needs. Second, their doctrine was right, and their faith was well defined and defended. They did not run after every theological wind of doctrine. Third, they persevered in their work despite much discouragement. They refused to quit. They were determined disciples, faithfully working and not deviating from the truth. They got a grade of A+ in religious studies. But despite all these good things, there is something seriously wrong with them. Jesus warns them that if they don’t repent, He will remove their lampstand (their light). What is the meaning of that? It doesn’t mean that the individuals in the church will go to hell. But it means that the church at Ephesus would lose its ability to shine the light of truth. They would become a church with no spiritual influence on the community around them. Love shines like the stars in the night. Without Love, the light of truth will quench. Agape Love is the only power that can sustain Truth! Sadly, many churches are in this situation. The Christians still meet every Sunday, doing religious things, but they have no spiritual impact. They don’t see any change in people’s lives. This warning does not apply to the Church at large. The gates of hell cannot prevail against the Living Church. But the light of truth can quench in a local assembly because they don’t walk in the revelation of agape love!!!

What causes this condition? Our Lord puts it in one brief phrase: “You have left the love you had for Me at first…” First Love is the love you felt for Jesus when you became born again. It is that wonderful sense of discovery that He loves you and has freed you from your sins. Your heart worshiped Him with thanksgiving. Watch a couple who are in love. They have eyes and ears only for each other. Talk to them, and they do not even listen to you. It is the same with a Christian when he first comes to Christ. The baby Christian is filled with gratitude. He is amazed that God forgave all his sins. He can hardly believe it. The love of Christ seems almost too much to him. He is drunk with love…

But there is a danger… The devil will tempt you! Apostle Paul warned the believers against the devil’s corruption of the first Love: “But I fear that somehow your pure and undivided devotion to Christ will be corrupted, just as Eve was deceived by the cunning ways of the serpent” (2Cor 11:3; NLT). With time, that sweet Love can be left behind, can be forsaken. To forsake it means to abandon someone who is helpless and in need, having no desire to go back to him. To forsake Love is to betray Love. The Lover becomes the enemy. After being in love with Jesus, gradually, there comes a shift of focus. Your vision changes. You get busy with other things. What you do for Christ alone begins to be less important. You become selfish. Gradually, your position in the church, your social status, the longing for man’s approval, and the lust for fame and wealth, begin to take priority. You go on doing the same things in the church but not with the same motive. Little by little, you drift away from the pure passion of your first love for Jesus. Every institution can drift and change for the worse! Selah!

We live in what the Bible calls ‘the last days.’ Christians forsake their Love for God and for one another. They grieve the Holy Spirit. They choose religious entertainment (2Tim 3:1-5). The comedians replace the worshippers in the churches. This ungodly attitude is like a virus that spreads its poison, corrupting churches and families. We are commanded to go forsake those who forsake Jesus, the First Love. These are some symptoms of backsliding: you lose your joy and your zeal for God! The Christian life becomes a boring routine. You begin to feel that you know everything. Church activities become mechanical. When you lose the wonder of Jesus’ love, you also find your love for others fading. You become bitter, critical, complaining, rude. You become proud in your thinking. You only think about yourself now. Losing your first Love is the beginning of your downfall. It leads to spiritual blindness, to the loss of vision and spiritual impact. People do not listen to you anymore. You now waste your life. The solution? Remember, Repent and Recover all! Go back to Jesus! Humble yourself! Ask for mercy! Pay the price for spiritual intimacy with Jesus!

These are facts from the history of the church: Ephesus was once a great city. God invested much in the church at Ephesus. Apostle Paul was a pastor in Ephesus and introduced the brethren to the baptism of the Holy Spirit (Ac 19:1-7). The letter to the Ephesians was written to them. Apostle John was once the Bishop of that Church. It is interesting to know that the church in Ephesus is now dead. It means that the brethren ignored the warning of Jesus. They refused to repent. The light of that church went off. Ephesus is in present-day Turkey which is 99% Muslim now. It is an archeological site. People go to see the ruins of a once great Christian center in the Early church. Selah!

Facts about Agape First Love:

*Love is patient (1 Cor 13:4). Trials and hardship do not quench Love. “So, Jacob served seven years for Rachel, and they seemed only a few days to him because of the love he had for her” (Gen 29:20). Lesson: Be patient when waiting for God to lovingly answer your prayer!

*Agape Love sees God everywhere. David worshipped God always. He saw God in all things. For David, the sun is like a bridegroom happily going to his wedding day. “He has set a tabernacle for the sun, 5 Which is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber and rejoices like a strong man to run its race” (Ps 19:4, 5). Lesson: Humble yourself! Guard your love for Jesus and for others!

*Love is grateful to God. The sinful woman who was forgiven by King Grace showed her gratitude by worshipping Jesus at His feet. Jesus said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave Me no water for My feet, but she has washed My feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head. 45 You gave Me no kiss, but this woman has not ceased to kiss My feet since the time I came in. 46 You did not anoint My head with oil, but this woman has anointed My feet with fragrant oil. 47 Therefore I say to you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much. But to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little” (Lk 7:44-47). Lesson: Love forgives!

*Agape Love is generous. Mary of Bethany gave God the most expensive gift she had. “A woman came to Him having an alabaster flask of very costly fragrant oil, and she poured it on His head as He sat at the table” (Matt 26:7). Lesson: be generous towards God and man!

*Agape Love obeys God’s Word. Love makes us to sit at the feet of Jesus, to listen to His Word. This is how Mary of Bethany showed her love to Jesus. “And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus’ feet and heard His word” (Lk 10:39). Lesson: Love God’s Word!

*Agape Love is faithful beyond death! David and Jonathan; Ruth and Naomi’s relationships, are covenant relationships before God! Worship the Lord!!!