Tonight’s family service looked at the theme of ‘First Love.‘ Usually, when we use that term, we are thinking of romantic love, the rush of emotion we feel when we first fall in love. However, we have to acknowlege that love is the theme which runs throughout the whole of the Bible. God’s love is seen in Genesis 1:28 when we see Him creating mankind and blessing people; it’s also found in the last book, Revelation, when the church in Ephesus is told that they have forsaken their first love. (Rev 2:4)
God’s love for us is the theme of the whole Bible. His love prompted Him to give His Son to save us (Jn 3:16-17) and we love because He first loved us. (1 Jn 4:19) However, we need to move beyond the idea of love as a feeling only and acknowlege that our love for God needs to be seen in action and in truth. Whilst our thoughts of first love may reflect the idea that ‘the first stab of love is like a sunset, a blaze of colours’ (Anna Godbersen) and we may have many memories of our first love, what counts is that we move beyond nostalgia and remain faithful and true to God whose love for us is unending, indescribable and constant. Only when we see the power of His love can we hope to love Him faithfully and steadfastly as He loves us.