1 John 4: 19 , We love, because He first loved us.
Rev. 2:2 “To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: ¶ The One who holds the seven stars in His right hand, the One who walks among the seven golden lampstands, says this: 2 ‘I know your deeds and your toil and perseverance, and that you cannot tolerate evil men, and you put to the test those who call themselves apostles, and they are not, and you found them to be false; 3 and you have perseverance and have endured for My name’s sake, and have not grown weary. 4 But I have this against you, that you have left your first love.
That verse in 1 John could easily be translated, “We love Him, because He loved us first.” You might say that is saying the same thing, and of course, it is saying the same thing with a few words rearranged, meaning that our love for Him is a response to His previously loving us. Yet, with the second rendition, I’d like to think it means more than just His previous love. I’d like to think it could mean the intensity of His love, as First Love. To love us first carries the idea that He loves us most, not just that he loved us before we loved Him in a chronological sense. Song of Solomon gives us a sense of this in chapter 1 and 4, “For your love (Jesus) is better than wine. “Your oils have a pleasing fragrance, Your name is like purified oil; Therefore the maidens love you,” and “How beautiful is your love, my sister, my bride! (Us) How much better is your love than wine, And the fragrance of your oils Than all kinds of spices!”
You see when John was writing to the church at Ephesus, these were people who have loved Jesus for years, but their love for Christ began to cool, and he was calling them back to that first love experience. John wasn’t thinking about first love as something chronological, but a kind of love that is an all-consuming love, that happens to someone when they are first smitten, yet stays with them always. If the Ephesians were to respond to John’s admonition to return to first love then it would not be their first time to experience it; it would be their second time, so it could not be chronological. Instead, it has to be about loving someone extravagantly. It is to be controlled by love, as Paul talks about in 2 Cor. 5:14. All this is to say that our response of love, our reason for loving God, is not just because He loved us before we loved Him, but because He loves us with a lovesick first-love. It’s one thing for someone to love me; it’s another thing for someone to be consumed with an exclusive, blazing, and furiously unconditional love for me. The kind of love that would give away everything for me (John 3:16) is the kind of love that provokes a response in me to love that person back with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength.
I so love this chorus:
“I am yours, yes I am, wholly yours,
For You are my first love
You are my only one
Lord there is nothing else for me
Where else can I go
You have my heart alone
You are the only home I need.”