Revelation 2:2-4

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.

In Revelation 2, Jesus Christ gives this message to the church at Ephesus. When you look at verses 2 and 3, you see that the church was doing some great things. They were evaluating apostles (messengers) according to what they knew the Word of God said, and were persevering in good deeds.

But then He comes to verse 4.

Remember that feeling you had with your first love? Remember the overwhelming excitement, the constant obsession? Think about it in terms of your spiritual life. Remember that feeling when you discovered the grace of God for the first time?

God wants us to be excited and obsessed with Him!

Do you need something to be excited about?

Romans 5:8

8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

In the original Greek, it’s HUPER HEMON, and it’s called an ablative of advantage. Not just for us, but to our supreme advantage. Well the Cross is certainly to our advantage!

Colossians 2:13-14

13 When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions,

14 having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.

We owed an unbelievable debt; but it has been completely cancelled; because of the work of Jesus Christ, ALL our sins are forgiven, and nailed to the Cross.

Ephesians 2:4-7

4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us,

5 even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),

6 and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,

7 so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

Because of the grace of God, we are now alive with Jesus Christ, and God sees us as His children, permanently together with Jesus Christ.

1 John 3:1

1 See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and such we are…

Our future in heaven for all of eternity, our position in Christ, our relationship with God as children, are all the result of what God has done for us. It’s all because of the grace of God.

How does that make you feel?!

Look at Paul’s warning to the Corinthians.

2 Corinthians 6:1

1 And working together with Him, we also urge you not to receive the grace of God in vain --

When we recognize that we are beneficiaries of the amazing grace of God, it should give us that “first love” feeling! If it doesn’t, then we have received the grace of God in vain. Remember the things God has done for us, and be excited!