Being Restored to First Love

For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that …He (Jesus) died for all , so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf. 2 Corinthians 5:14-15

When Jesus is speaking to the church in Revelation chapters 2-3 the first thing He addresses is the fact that they have left their first love. As a consequence of leaving first love Jesus says they are fallen. He then calls them to repent and to return to first love as their only mode of living. First love is the fellowship of the Godhead. It is not only the way They live, it is Who They are. God is love. (1John 4:16) As such They completely live for the other and not themselves.

In the first case Jesus was talking to the leadership of the church. He referred to the leadership as being a star that was in His hand - “The seven stars are the angels (messengers) of the seven churches” and again He speaks of Himself as, “The One who holds the seven stars in His right hand.” (Rev 1:20; 2:1) In the second case He is talking to the whole church because He says if they don’t repent He will remove the lampstand out of its place. The lampstand being the church. (Rev 1:20) As a result what we can clearly see is that both the star and the lampstand have fallen from His hand. To fall from first love is to fall from His hand.

The deception that we see with the church at Ephesus that Jesus is addressing and it is also the issue with the Corinthian church, is that there is much ministry activity and functioning going on. Of course this should be the case, but if these works are not motivated and activated by the love of God then, as Paul says to the Corinthian church, it means nothing. (1Cor 13:1-3)

In considering the impact of this upon ourselves, I don’t think we have ever attained to first love to have fallen from it. But we must see ourselves as ones who are fallen and needing to be restored to first love. This is His word of restoration that sits before us all during this present season. The Spirit is urging us to no longer live for ourselves but for Him. This is why the emphasis on being baptised into the death of Christ has become so critical to our restoration to first love.