His Heart, My Home

In last week’s post, we heard Jesus expressing His heart’s longing for the church to return to Him, its “first love”.

He told the Ephesian church (and this certainly can and does apply to believers in our day as well) of His concern for their downward trajectory. He pinpointed the problem as their being caught up in the busy-ness and distractions of life, leaving little time for what should have been their first priority, fellowship and communion with Him. (Revelation 2:1-4)

Let’s begin this week’s study by looking at the phrase Jesus used in Verse 4 … “first love”.

The Greek word translated as “first” is the word “protos”, which means “foremost in time, order, importance, priority, or degree; superior to; in front of; higher than”.

I hope that all of us reading this post can agree that our relationship with Jesus should always be foremost in importance, the highest priority in our lives, and superior to every other relationship.

In Matthew 22:37 (Passion Translation), Jesus reminded His disciples of the Old Testament scripture: “Love the Lord your God, with every passion of your heart, with all the energy of your being, and with every thought that is within you”.

Now hold on, because I’m about to share some truth with you that may be a little uncomfortable. I know that it has been for me. Here it is:

If we are endeavoring, through our utmost determination, and our well-intentioned efforts to love the Lord as described in the verse above… “with every passion… with all our energy… with every thought”, we can be assured that we will fail!

“Brother Joe, what do you mean?”

I simply mean that we cannot love the Lord in a greater measure through our will power, our promises, our efforts, our works, or even our “ministry”.

Gritting our teeth and “trying harder” to love and please God will only lead us into the same trap that was the prison for the religious leaders of Jesus’ day, the vicious circle of self-effort and self-righteousness.

Doing our religious “duties” can never replace intimacy with the One who is the Lover of our souls!

Imagine a husband with his fists clenched, and a pained and strained expression on his face, who when asked by his wife what he is doing replies, “Don’t bother me right now. I’m trying to love you more.”

Quick! Someone call 911 and also an ambulance, because someone at that address is about to receive a well-deserved knot on his head!

Jesus commended the Ephesian church for excelling in their “Christian duties”, but was concerned because they had begun to fail in fulfilling life’s most important priority… to  genuinely and wholeheartedly love the Lord above everything and everyone else.

As I studied the topic of “first love”, Holy Spirit led me to a very familiar scripture. But at first I couldn’t understand just what He wanted me to see in it.

How many of you have ever picked up and looked at one of those 3-D picture books? You may or may not have been successful in seeing the hidden three-dimensional image on the page, but it was there, right in front of you, whether you saw it or not.

The technique is simple, but does require some practice. In order to “SEE” the picture, you have to CHANGE the FOCAL POINT of your eyes, looking beyond the two-dimensional pattern that is printed on the page.

So let me help you see the big picture that God was trying to show me. He helped me refocus my spiritual eyes to see love from His perspective. Here’s the key verse:

“We love, because He first loved us…”
(1 John 4:19, Amplified Bible)

That’s it!

Simple, but profound!

Truth elevated to the pinnacle of transcendance!

The scripture is not just saying He loved us BEFORE (in time) we loved Him, although that is true.

It is saying He “FIRST-LOVED” us, ahead of everything and everyone in all creation, the universe, time, and eternity!

It is speaking of the unparalleled, unequaled unmatched, unprecedented love He has always had, has now, and will have forever… for us!

It means that He values us so much that He put our desperate need for salvation “ahead of, in front of, and as a higher priority (protos) than the suffering and death of His own Son.

Jesus’ physical suffering was indescribable!
The depiction of His bloody scourging and cruel crucifixion in Mel Gibson’s movie, The Passion of the Christ was so horrendously graphic that people in the theater I attended were covering their faces, audibly weeping, and crying out for the torture to stop!

And that was only a movie, not the reality!
Actually, His physical suffering was only the beginning of the price He paid to rescue us!

REMEMBER… The Bible says that Jesus:

BORE our sicknesses, diseases, and pains!
“Surely He has borne our griefs (sicknesses, weaknesses, and distresses) and carried our sorrows and pains… “
(Isaiah 53:4 Amplified Bible Classic Edition)

BORE our transgressions and iniquities!
“He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our guilt and iniquities; the chastisement [needful to obtain] peace and well-being for us was upon Him, and with the stripes [that wounded] Him we are healed and made whole.”
(Isaiah 53:5 Amplified Bible Classic Edition)

BECAME our sin-nature!
“For God made  the only One who did not know sin to become sin for us,  so that we might become the righteousness of God through our union with Him.”
(2 Corinthians 5:21 Passion Translation)

BECAME a curse for us!
“Yet, Christ paid the full price to set us free from the curse of the law. He absorbed the curse completely as He became a curse in our place. For it is written: “Everyone who is hung upon a tree is cursed.” (Galatians 3:13 Passion Translation)

He was so BEATEN, BATTERED, BRUISED, BLIGHTED, and BROKEN that those looking at Him on the cross were horrified, so much so they hid their faces to block out the sight of His suffering!

“Just as many were appalled at the sight of Him (for so marred was His appearance, like an object of horror; He no longer looked like a man)”
(Isaiah 52:14 Passion Translation)

It broke the Father’s heart. He actually had to turn His back to Jesus as He was being crushed… bearing the unbearable curse of the world’s sin, sickness, and shame. In His mercy, He drew a curtain of darkness over the scene for three hours!

“And about the ninth hour (three o’clock) Jesus cried with a loud voice, ‘Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?’ –that is, my God, my God, why have you abandoned me [leaving me helpless, forsaking and failing me in my need]?” (Matthew 27:46 Amplified Classic)

Why did Jesus endure all this excruciating suffering? Why this hellish agony?

It was because the Father “FIRST-LOVED” us!

In giving His Son to be broken and crushed He in essence gave His very own heart to be broken and crushed… for us! We were His priority! We were His prize!

His love for us is much much bigger than the universe, and will last much much longer than eternity!

How could we possibly not “FIRST-LOVE” Him in return?

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Blessings!