remember

Lost Love Restored

“Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love”

Revelation 2:4

There have been changes and there will be more changes in the way Christians express their worship of the Lord during the present difficult times. It will be a time of testing as to whether we truly worship the Lord or merely have a weekly habit that makes us feel we have worshipped the Lord. It is the right time for us to check ourselves and ensure that our activities, practices and habits have not replaced genuine love and worship of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Christians in the church at Ephesus had been actively doing the right things and the Lord acknowledges that in verses two and three. They worked hard and persevered in ministry to one another. They endured mocking and criticism from unbelievers. As in all ages there are those who claim to represent God but do so falsely. These they tested against Scripture and found them wanting and rejected their teaching. All that they did they did for the sake of Jesus Christ. However, in the midst of all this good activity they neglected the most important thing.

That which was neglected is the same as that which is often neglected in many marriages that sometimes end in break up. The Christians at Ephesus had neglected their relationship with Jesus Christ. Jesus exposes their neglect with these words, “You have left your first love.”

Fortunately for them and for us He gives the remedy: remember and repent. Remember how you responded to Christ’s love and forgiveness and the gratitude you experienced. Remember that Jesus died and shed His own blood for your sin. Go back to that which began your relationship and reengage with Him in personal communion.

In such a time as this let us follow Jesus’ counsel to the church at Ephesus and ensure that we maintain our intimate relationship with Him. Is our first love our form of worship or is the object of worship our first love? Activities of serving and ministering to others will flow out of that relationship but they must never be allowed to be a substitute for it. Activity is no substitute for a relationship with Jesus. We live in testing times, a problem for the world but an opportunity for believers. For the sake of those who will respond to the Gospel of Christ we must be ready and willing to share it with them with a compassionate heart in love and truth.

Regular Reminders

“I will be careful to ensure that you always have a reminder of these things after my decease”

2 Peter 1:15

From very young we learn and remember many things as a result of repetition. A parent may often say, “How many times have I told you …!” Repetition was how we learned the “times tables”, and how we memorised verses from the Bible.

Where did Peter get the idea that we needed reminders of the essential truths revealed by God? Since Peter spent more than three years with Jesus and heard him preach some things several times it seems likely that he is following Christ’s example. There are two key examples of repetition given by Jesus that He has commanded His church to observe. These remind us of what He has done for us and what He has done in us.

Communion, or the Lord’s Table, is a reminder of what Jesus has done for us and the church has the responsibility to observe this in a manner that will express true teaching to the unsaved as well as remind the saved how that came about. Paul refers to it as an opportunity to focus and reflect on what Jesus has done for us in remembrance of Him (1 Corinthians 11:23-26). The focus is on Jesus but we can’t do that completely without remembering what He has done for us. Remembering Him and reflecting on what He has done will keep our hearts humble and thankful.

Baptism is the other ordinance that He has given to the church (Matthew 28:19) and is given as a living picture of what Jesus has done in us. Baptism tells the story of what has already happened in us from being dead in sin to being created new in Christ and rising to new life in Christ. It reminds us of Christ’s death, burial and resurrection.

Communion and Baptism tell the Easter story and its application. They are regular reminders for us. Peter writes in this letter that there are those who would corrupt the message. This is all the more reason to keep reminding each other of these essential truths. Some nominally Christian groups have corrupted both these reminders by giving power to the ritual which is only a shadow of that which is real. Shadows have no power in themselves and disappear when the true light comes. Jesus, Paul and Peter all expect us to be continually mindful of the means by which we are saved and the extent of that salvation but primarily be mindful of the One who made it all possible.”I will not be negligent to remind you always of these things” (2 Peter 1:12).

Declaration of Ownership

“God looked upon the children of Israel, and God acknowledged them” Exodus 2:25

As in child birth, pain often precedes pleasure and joy. The birth of the nation of Israel would be no different and it has similarities with the nation’s rebirth at the end of the Great Tribulation.

In the last three verses of Exodus two we find Israel groaning under the weight of bondage as slaves in Egypt. In their pain and suffering they cried out to the Lord. God had been with them all along but now that the people were crying out for deliverance He would act.

First we note that He heard the cries of Israel for deliverance to the point of acting (v 24). But on what basis would He act? In the same verse we are given the answer; “God remembered His covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob.” It isn’t that God had forgotten His covenant. This and the preceding chapter are evidence of that but He is now going to act in a special way with regard to that covenant.

When we read that “God looked upon the children of Israel,” it isn’t that He had been distracted elsewhere but that He was taking into account their present situation and their crying out for deliverance. He would now act.

Finally, in these verses, we note that God acknowledged Israel and was concerned for them. The idea here is that of a relationship, that of a father for his son (4:22). God is declaring His ownership of Israel. As such He will act to deliver Israel. He affirms this again in 3:7 where He refers to Israel as “My people.”

This is a beautiful picture of Israel’s future. The closing days of the Great Tribulation will see Israel again crying out to God for deliverance. On that occasion the Lord Jesus Himself will appear for the same reason that He gave attention to Israel as recorded in Exodus two, “God remembered His covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob.” He will then deliver believing Israel and believing Gentiles and establish His earthly kingdom.

These circumstances have a parallel with salvation now. When a person is sick and tired of the corruption of this world, bondage to sin and death, they will cry out to God for deliverance. Jesus promises to respond. He said, “If anyone wills to do His will, he shall know concerning the doctrine [teaching], whether it is from God or whether I speak on My own authority” (John 7:17). When a person desires to hear the truth Jesus will ensure they hear it and know that it is true but it is up to the person as to whether they will receive it and trust Jesus and His word.

It is the delight of the child of God to know that Jesus Christ declares His ownership of them and in due course will do so publicly. Of greatest importance is that He will declare His redeemed to the Father.