Who Is Your First Love?
Yesterday we looked into the life of John the Baptizer. How he went from fulfilling the prophesy on his life to losing his life because he refused to lay down a ministry that was no longer needed. He lost sight of Jesus. Today, we are looking at the book of Revelation concerning the church of Ephesus. Let’s lay some facts out about this church. The church of Ephesus was established by Paul 15 to 20 years after the Resurrection of Jesus. He spent a great deal of time there preaching and building the church. He had a significant impact on the community. Ephesus had a history of strong pagan culture, but Paul built a strong foundation of truth and understanding. He set the groundwork for unity in faith among the family of Ephesus and encouraged them to mature in their understanding of Jesus. Later on, he established Timothy has the Pastor. We know Jesus’ mother, Mary attended the church. John the Beloved, Priscilla, Aquilla and Apollos all attended the church of Ephesus. This church grew to be very large as they established the truth of Jesus in the heart of the city. It became well established.
But we have a letter from John the Beloved to the church of Ephesus that came as a warning.
“Write the following to the messenger of the congregation in Ephesus. For these are the words of the one who holds the seven stars firmly in his right hand, who walks among the seven golden lampstands: I know all that you’ve done for me—you have worked hard and persevered. I know that you don’t tolerate evil. You have tested those who claimed to be apostles and proved they are not, for they were imposters. I also know how you have bravely endured trials and persecutions because of my name, yet you have not become discouraged. But I have this against you: you have abandoned the passionate love you had for me at the beginning. Think about how far you have fallen! Repent and do the works of love you did at first. I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place of influence if you do not repent. Although, to your credit, you despise the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also despise. The one whose heart is open let him listen carefully to what the Spirit is saying now to all the churches. To the one who overcomes I will give access to feast on the fruit of the Tree of Life that is found in the paradise of God.” Revelation 2
Jesus instructs John to write this letter to the church of Ephesus as a warning. We must understand something about Jesus. His warnings (judgements) are always aimed at that which hinders our intimacy with Him. He is never angry with us. His heart is always for restoration. He sees the church is doing well at leading in the area of ministry. They are persevering, working hard, they recognize false teaching, they are not tolerating evil, and Jesus even says you despise the practices of Nicolaitans, this can be translated in Aramaic as the performing of rituals, which he also despises. But there is one problem with this church. They have left their love for Jesus. Did they stop loving Jesus? Absolutely not! But they are no longer making it about one thing. His presence, His face, His voice. Jesus is telling them I have no choice but to remove my Presence (the lampstand) from you if you do not repent. If you do not change the way you think. How we think directs every step we take in life. He is not doing it as a punishment. This is a principal of the Kingdom. If we leave Jesus behind to do our own thing, we will not have His tangible presence guiding us. It is true, He never leaves us and, in His goodness, will always try to lure us back on the path He has for us, but WE MUST CHOOSE HIM! He even says, “the one whose heart is open let him listen carefully to what the Spirit is saying.” Our heart must be open to His voice to hear Him.
Where have you left Him to do your own thing? This is the invitation to come back into intimate union with Jesus. Our choice is not always to intentionally leave Jesus behind. We often times are so focused on life in generally we fail to open our heart to listen to the Spirit. Or maybe it is more about how you see yourself that is keeping you from really leaning into His voice. He is so good and faithful to never give up on us. It is us who have to choose to never give up on His glorious plan for us.
