Revelation 2:4 Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love.
What a horrible indictment that the Church of the Apostolic age had left its first love. What is the true meaning of first love? Simply, it means we have left loving Him first. The term first sets the priority. If, in fact, our priority is Christ first in everything, then our love and passion for Him would be reflected in our behavior and attitude. This indictment against Ephesus indicates that the fervor and passion exhibited upon encountering Christ and His grace had been dampened and no longer exhibited. We are told this would happen in Matthew 24:12. And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. When our love for God seems to dwindle, so does our love for the brethren. What causes the loss of love for Christ, the further away in time we go from the point of salvation? When we first meet God’s grace, it isn’t hard to fall madly in love with Him. The foundation and basis of our love for Him flows from the demonstration of His love for us. Therefore, we can make the statement that from love grows every other spiritual attribute and discipline.
The conversation between Jesus and Peter after Peter’s failure highlights the significance of love in our service to Christ. I think of Peter’s thought process and emotion when he told Jesus he would follow Him even if it meant his own death. How strong Peter was in his bold confession of Christ. However, remember Peter denied knowing the Lord, as Jesus told him would happen. After his denial, he went out and wept bitterly. Jesus was crucified, buried, and rose again from the dead. Peter then went back to what he knew and was familiar with: he went fishing. This seems to be the way human nature works. We are constantly pulled back into our former life when we experience failure. We could conclude that failure in a believer's life can weaken one's love for Christ. This dynamic is somewhat confusing to me. Why do we blame Christ for our failure and weakness? Why do we go back to a fleshly way of life when we do not respond properly to Jesus when tempted by the flesh?
John 21 records a conversation between Christ and Peter. The first time Peter had been in his presence since his denial. Jesus began the conversation by asking Peter a question. Peter, do you love me? Not one time during the conversation was the denial mentioned. The Lord said, Peter, do you love me? Most know that the terms used for love differ in this conversation, revealing that Peter’s love for the Lord was not an agape-type love, but a love of a lesser degree. The important part of this is that Peter was now honest in his relationship with Jesus. After Peter told the Lord, yes, Lord, I love you. Jesus then responded by saying, feed my sheep. The motive of our heart in our service to the Lord must be found in our love for Him. It was the love that motivated service, which the first Church forsaken, and has, I believe, continued to dwindle throughout the history of the Church. Our love for each other seems to be based on how well we perform, not on the grace and mercy of God that was given to us. The scripture points out that to whom much has been given, much is required. If we have received much grace, then we are required to give one another much grace. The lack of forgiveness we see in the Church stems from a lack of love for Christ. We cannot love each other without first loving Christ. Matthew 24 points out that abounding sin leads to a lack of love. We seem to be caught up in a mentality of seeing what we can get away with regarding the law of God and the disciplines of spiritual life. With such a mentality prevailing in our day-to-day, it is easy to see why our love has weakened. This is why people today no longer prioritize Christ and His word.
It is clear that the passion demonstrated in the worship services of local church bodies has decreased over the years of my life. It makes me wonder what it must have been like to attend worship time with other believers during the apostolic age. Many would argue that because culture is so different now than during that time, one could not discern the gatherings of that time from today. I would say that culture doesn’t change the living God. Culture doesn’t change the sacrifice Jesus made for us. Culture doesn’t change the truth of His word. Until we are honest about where our love for Christ lies, we will never experience the revival of love we so desperately need in the Church today.
I don’t want to neglect how the definition of love has changed in our day. The message of the gospel is for all. Regardless of where you are or who you are, the gospel is for you. There is no sinner that Jesus can’t save. There is no sin that Jesus can’t forgive. However, acceptance is given to those who repent. The true love of God rescues the sinner from his sin. However, today’s message seems to be to come to Jesus, and He will accept you as you are. There is no acceptance without transformation. Real love is that we don’t remain in the condition we are in now. Real love is that I am being transformed every moment into the perfect design that Jesus has for me. We will never fully love Christ until we understand how He loves us.
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