Return to First Love
David W Palmer
In Revelation, the final book of God’s word, in chapters 2 and 3; Jesus wrote love-filled but vitally important letters to churches that were beginning to become set in their ways. This is what he said to the one at Ephesus:
(Revelation 2:2–4 NKJV) “I know your works, your labor, your patience … you have persevered and have patience, and have labored for My name’s sake and have not become weary. (4) Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love.”
Jesus was full of genuine praise for this church’s good points, and it seems that he had only one thing against them; they had left their “first love.” What was their first love? To find out, we go to the beginning of the church at Ephesus:
(Acts 19:1–7 NKJV) “… Paul … came to Ephesus. And finding some disciples (2) he said to them, ‘Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?’ So they said to him, ‘We have not so much as heard whether there is a Holy Spirit.’ (3) And he said to them … (5) When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. (6) And when Paul had laid hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke with tongues and prophesied. (7) Now the men were about twelve in all.”
Wow! Initially these people were so hungry and in love with God that they readily accepted baptism in both water and the Holy Spirit. This showed their desire for Jesus, his forgiveness, his life, and his holy lifestyle. As we read on in Acts, we see amazing things coming out of this tiny group of believers—this baby church—reflecting their “first love”:
This sure sounds like an “on-fire” church in love with God—making a huge impact in their city and beyond with the gospel. The apostle Paul later wrote to them, summarizing their heart condition in the early days of their church:
(Ephesians 1:15–16 NKJV) “Therefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, (16) do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers.”
Paul says that their first love included “faith in the Lord Jesus, and love for all the saints”— God’s people everywhere.
These amazing passages describe what the Ephesian church did when they were overflowing with their first love for Jesus—something to which we could all aspire. But in his letter to them (above), the Lord said that they had left it somewhere. So what were his instructions to them about how to get it back?
(Revelation 2:5 NKJV) “Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place—unless you repent.”
In Jesus’s instructions to them, I see three steps that we can apply to ourselves today if we have lost our first love:
1. “Remember”
Remember how far you have fallen. For us, this means to remember your early days as a new believer—your honeymoon period with the Lord. Realize how far you have fallen like them into loveless works, doctrinal debate winning, pride over your self-righteous counterfeit holiness, and position-consciousness, etc. In other words, compared with where your heart was when you first met Jesus, confess where you are really at now.
2. “Repent”
This means to change your heart attitude and your thinking; and then by that change, it means to reform your actions.
3. Return to “the works you did at first” (NLT)
It’s time to get back to the simplicity that’s in Christ: it is love; it is romance; it is simple child-li
