God's Glory Church

“But I have this against you, that you left your first love. Remember therefore from whence you fell, and repent, and do the first works; but if not so, I will come to you quickly and will remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent.”(Rev. 2:4-5).

Jesus begins judging the churches by listing their good works, which brought glory to Him. And He expresses His recognition to each church for their good work. But, at the same time, He sees some situations that deeply upset and sadden Him – and He gives a warning to each of the churches.

He first addresses the Christians in Ephesus, a church founded on the godly teachings of the Apostle Paul. Jesus judges the Ephesians with these words: “…you have left your first love.”.

When Christ here calls “first love,” He is not talking about that newly born, immature love that we experience when we first accept Christ into our hearts. Most likely, He is talking about exclusive love. Listen: “I used to take first place in your heart. But now you have lost your exclusive love for Me. You have allowed other things to take My place!”

It is significant that of all the sins that He points out to the churches: fornication, greed, lukewarmness, false teachings, the dominant position of the Jezebels, spiritual blindness – the first sin He names is what is most sad for Him: the loss of feelings of love for Him. Our God loves to the point of jealousy – and He will not allow anything else to take away our love for Him!

The Christians in Ephesus had a close walk with the Lord. As I read Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, I am amazed at the abundance of the gospel that these people lived. Paul, in fact, wrote a lot about their excellent spiritual qualities. He calls them“holy and faithful in Christ…blessed in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places…elect…before the foundation of the world…predestinated to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of His will”(Eph. 1:1-5).

It quickly becomes apparent to us that the Ephesians were not just a group of Christian novices or indifferent saints. No, Jesus tests the hearts of people who are deeply rooted in the truth of the gospel, demonstrating it in their lives through their sacrificial works and defense of sacred truths.

Along with this, Jesus sees something completely different in the hearts of the Ephesians – where their great flaw lay – and directly points it out to them. He says: “I see your deeds – hatred of sin, love of truth, your justice and strength of spirit. However, with all your labors, somehow you allowed your first love to wither and wither. Your feeling of love for Me is dying!”

Some believers will respond: “What’s so scary about this? Maybe I’m not as zealous for the Lord now as I was in my youth. Maybe the impulses of my heartfelt feelings have weakened a little. So what? Jesus knows that I love Him!”

When Jesus warns, “…repent and do the first works”(5:6), He says, “Remember the state of your heart when you first received My salvation. You rejoiced that I dwelt in your heart! You couldn’t wait for the Sunday service to go and tell people how much you love Me. You devoted all your free time to delving into My Word and knowing My love for Then it was not a burden for you to pray, because I was everything to you. You loved Me more than your life.

Now you’ve moved away from it all and cooled down. I get so little attention and so little time from you. Your attitude towards Me has changed and become cold. Something foreign has captivated your heart!”

In the same verse 5, Jesus adds sternly: “…repent and do the first works, and if not, I will come to you quickly and will remove your lamp from its place, unless you repent.” Over the years, theologians have tried to somehow soften the severity of this warning, trying with all their might to give it a different meaning. But there is nothing to soften it! Its meaning is obvious. Jesus tells us: “If you say that the fire of God burns in you, but in reality your heart is no longer comforted by Me, then I will take away from you even the last piece of light that you have! After this, no matter how much you work for Me, you are no longer a worker in My field. I will not recognize any of your deeds, because you have lost your love for Me!”

Can your love for Jesus be called exclusive, your first love? Do you regularly come to prayer meeting with Him? Or maybe foreign things have seeped into your heart and have already captivated your senses and consumed your mind?

Now Jesus invites you to repent and start over. He wants you to stop and look around you: “Wait a minute, now I understand how this obscene thing has entered my life. And it is stealing my first love for Jesus! I will not allow this to continue like this, Lord, forgive me! Light my lamp again!”

Return to your first love today. Ask the Lord for grace and strength to stand guard and keep your first love for Christ!