Our First Love

In his blog, Recovering Our Primary Love, Alan Hirsch describes what he feels Jesus meant when saying to the church of Ephesus, "...you have left your first love." Below are what I think are 3 great examples of leaving, then returning to our first love.


Ezekiel

Ezekiel was a prophet given special revelation in amazing visions during his exile. He was raised up by God in the final
days of Jerusalem to warn those who too had been exiled to Babylonia of what was to come in their homeland, and why.
He warned them that they too would be open to similar judgment if they did not turn from their sin and rebellion against
God. He describes the Isrelites as "rebellious" and "prostitutes". They had become comfortable in Babylon, actively becoming part of society and taking on the customs of their captors.

In contrast he also declared a future of hope for the Israelites after the fall of Jerusalem. Foreign nations who had come against them would also come under God’s judgment.

Finally God would raise up a Davidic king and establish him and His people in an everlasting kingdom and that God has established His everlasting heavenly temple on a mountain in Israel so that His people may safely return knowing that God is there. They would eventually come back to their first love.


Hosea

Hosea's ministry to Israel (the Northern Kingdom) runs in parallel to his family life which God used as a lesson for the people. In the first section, Hosea married a prostitute according to God's instruction. His wife Gomer forsook him and committed adultery with many lovers. Hosea continued to love her and eventually bought her back out of slavery. His experiences with Gomer illustrated God's relationship with Israel. Gomer returned to her first love.

The marriage theme is continued in the section section. God loves Israel as a man loves his wife, but like Gomer, Israel did not return this love. For this God allows his "wife" to be taken from him by the Assyrians and the nation was destroyed. God would restore their land and some, like Gomer, would return to their first love.


The Prodigal Son

In the parable a man had two sons. The younger of the two asked for his portion and went into the world and "..squandered his wealth in wild living..." He quickly learned that this world had nothing for him. All the riches couldn't bring him peace. He sought to return to his father in repentance, hoping only that he could be brought in as a hired man. As we know his father was waiting with open arms to the dismay of the elder brother. The dad's reply should be on our hearts daily, "'My son,' the father said, 'you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.' " The prodigal son had returned to his first love.


The central theme is that God (or the dad, husband, etc.) is waiting for the lost one to return, having repented and searching for their first love.

Have we truly returned to our first love. As Alan states, this doesn't mean something earthly as in a childhood crush. By first, Jesus meant PRIMARY love. A love so strong as to make our temporal relationships pale in comparison. If we have this unconditional, "Agape", love in our hearts our light will shine in the darkness.