“…you have lost your early love. Think from what a height you have fallen; repent, and do as you once did” Jesus to the Ephesian church in Revelation 2:5
The risen Jesus spoke to John while in exile on the Greek island of Patmos. The Revelation given to him to record is a fantastic look into heavenly things – future things – a window into the spiritual realm and the plan of God. The beginning of this book is a message to seven churches of John’s day.
I have just returned, along with 31 other pilgrims, from a trip to this area of the world and together we visited all seven sites where these churches were. I will look at the messages to these churches over the next few weeks. I think the messages to these churches are also applicable to us as individual Christians – there is something here for us to learn, and the first church addressed is Ephesus.
The Ephesus of John’s day was one of the largest three or four cities in the Roman empire. The theatre sat 24,000 and the rule of thumb is that you multiply the theatre seating by ten and you have the city population – around a quarter of a million. Strong tradition has John (along with Jesus’ mother Mary) living here for many years.
Ephesus was the centre for Artemis worship and boasted the Artemis temple which was one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. Paul stirred up a hornet’s nest with her supporters as he gave the gospel and saw many conversions. You can read this powerful and scary encounter in Acts 19.
Paul’s letter to the Ephesians is one of my favorite books of the bible – I’m reading through it devotionally again and today my reading was the end of chapter three – my favorite verses – read verses 14 to 21. Chapter five of Ephesians presents marriage as a picture of how Christ treats the Church – his redeemed ones. Any of us who have been married for a while know that it’s not enough to fulfill marital contractual obligations in order to have a successful marriage. There must also be the surges of loving feelings and thoughtful gestures that give life to a marriage. As time goes by we must still keep love alive.
Paul wrote the Ephesian letter about 60-62 AD. John wrote the Revelation about 35 years later. The message to the Ephesian church in the latter book (Revelation 2:1-7) praised them for hard work, bravery and a commitment to correct doctrine, but over this time they had lost their first love for Jesus. It was like a marriage turned into a business partnership. Jesus called them back to first love – He called them to repent for sliding away from freshness. It is possible to go through all the challenges of marriage and to retain vibrant love. It is also possible to go through all the challenges of a long Christian journey and to retain sweetness.
The Ephesus of Paul’s day was a port city, but the Meander river, accelerated by poor forest practices, silted up the harbor so in the end it is about six miles from the sea. What a picture for us as Christians! The cares of life can gradually silt up our freshness with the Lord until we find ourselves far from usefulness for Him! Jesus said this is not cause for adjustment but for repentance. So my question to you today is – how is your love for Jesus? Are you experiencing the normal Christian life of short accounts with Him? Is it time to repent and return to your first love? You can do that in prayer right now…
Pastor Leon Throness
