Rev. 2:2 – 4 – I know your works, your labor, your patience, and that you cannot bear those who are evil. And you have tested those who say they are apostles and are not, and have found them liars; and you have persevered and have patience, and have labored for My name’s sake and have not become weary. Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love. 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.
Everyone understands the language the Resurrected Lord used in His letter to the church in Ephesus. He complemented them on some of the strong stands they had made for the Lord but He added a quite devastating assessment, he said, “You have left your first love”. This statement cuts deeply because it went straight to the only essential thing in any of our lives, the reality of our personal relationship with Him. None of the good things we do even matter if they do not flow out of His love for us and our love for Him. Let me say this once again, our love for Christ is the fountain of everything we do. Here is how the CHRIST CENTERED EXPOSITION COMMENTARY
Describes this letter to Ephesus from the Lord.
“By all outward appearances this church looked healthy. Its doctrine was spot on, and the lifestyles of its members matched their confession. However—and this is an ever present hazard—they were in danger of becoming “a Pharisee church.” They were in danger of a legalism that in time would be their death. They were still doing all the right things, but sometime in the past they had forsaken the right motivation. They didn’t have a head problem but a heart problem. Obedience out of duty had replaced obedience out of love for Christ. The difference between the two is massive. It is the difference between “I obey and Jesus accepts me” and “Jesus accepts me and I gladly obey.”
I wonder how many of those original believers were still in Ephesus when they received this letter? Those that were remembered the fire in those meetings at the School of Tyranus in those early days. They were in daily meetings for two years when Paul was there. What characterized all that happened in that season was the fire of God’s love burning in their hearts. What Jesus was saying to them and to us is to stir up that fire once again. Going through the motions is meaningless at the end of the day. What is the Lord really after? What He has always been after, “My son, my daughter, give Me your heart”.
