Mosaic law part 15
Revelation 2: 2 Unto the angel of the church of Ephesus write; These things saith he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks; 2 I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars: 3 And hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name's sake hast laboured, and hast not fainted. 4 Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. 5 Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.
This passage talks about a church “losing its first love.” What did that mean?
* It’s an old story, I’ve told it before, you’ve heard it before, but here it is again; Couple was married for 50 years! Problem was, all they did was fuss. About everything!! For their 50th anniversary their kids chipped in to give them their most needed gift; a trip to the marriage counselor. They first argued about whether to accept the gift or not which was followed by ‘how they would get there.’ Their oldest child stopped that argument by announcing he would drive them. All the way to the appointment they argued about who would go first in telling about their difficulties. Arriving at the appointment and seated in front of the counselor this argument continued until the counselor dropped his pad and paper on the desk, stood up, walked around the desk, took the older lady in his arms, and planted a big-wet-Hollywood style- kiss on her lips. After the extended kiss, he gently seated the woman in her chair (she sat down with a half smile on her face) and turning to the stunned husband he said, “She needs this 3 times a week.” Without missing a beat the husband responded, “I can bring her by Monday, Wednesday, & Friday.”
Jesus is speaking in a vision to John directed the church in Ephesus in around the year 95 to 96 AD. Jesus had died, resurrected and ascended some 60 years before. Paul had first brought the gospel to Ephesus and started a church there some 40 years before. Coming to faith and following Christ in this pagan city had not been easy. But Jesus commends them for remaining faithful to the truth for all those years. But something had changed.
The church at Ephesus had a rich spiritual heritage, founded in the midst of a thriving pagan city devoted to the worship of Artemis (Acts 19:23–41). Surrounded by idolatry, immorality, and the pressures of commerce and trade, the Ephesian believers had endured much opposition and had become known for their steadfast defense of the truth, even exposing false apostles. Yet over time, this very struggle may have contributed to their loss of “first love.” Constant vigilance against heresy and persecution could have made their faith more about duty than devotion, more about guarding boundaries than delighting in Christ. The city’s bustling wealth and opportunities for distraction likely drew some away from wholehearted devotion, while the fatigue of laboring under constant trial may have cooled the warmth of their early joy. In short, though their orthodoxy remained intact, their love for Christ and one another had waned, turning a once vibrant relationship into a weary routine.
In other words, they were losing the reason behind their beliefs and actions. And the reason why we believe and follow Christ is love. “We love Him because He first loved us.”
I think we understand that. We understand it in thinking about any love relationship. But we also understand how it relates to our walk of faith.
Picture a Christian who started their journey like a runner in the Olympic torch relay, burning with zeal and joy. In the beginning, the flame of love for Christ was bright, drawing others’ eyes to its warmth and light. But somewhere along the way—through weariness, busyness, distraction, or disappointment—the fire quietly went out. Yet the runner keeps going, still clutching the torch, still running the course, but now without warmth, without light, without purpose. The tragic irony is that the torch was meant to ignite the great flame at the end of the race, symbolizing glory and victory, but an unlit torch cannot fulfill its mission. In the same way, many believers continue running the motions of Christianity—attending, serving, working—yet if the flame of first love is gone, their labor becomes empty, unable to shine for Christ or to fulfill the very purpose for which they began the race.
I have to get back to the original reason. We have to get back to the original reason for what we believe, and what we do. And that original reason is “Love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength.”
This morning, we come to the final message in our series on the moral law of God. We’ve walked through the categories of violence laws, intimacy laws, honor laws, truth laws, property laws, fairness laws, compassion laws, and worship laws. And now, we arrive at the heart of it all — love laws.
Last week we looked at love your neighbor, and this week we finish the Mosaic law with the most important command in all of Scripture; Love the Lord your God with all of your heart, soul, mind, and strength. This is the first and greatest commandment.
prayer
II. Love God
The first and greatest commandment is this: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind” (Matthew 22:37).
We are going to ask the same questions today that we asked about the other moral laws. Did this law exist before the Mosaic law? Was it in the Mosaic law? Did Jesus and His disciples reiterate it? And what should a Christian today do with it? And what we are going to discover is that love of God has been and will be an eternal theme.
1. Did this law predate the Mosaic law?
Yes. From creation, mankind was designed to love and worship God. Adam and Eve walked with God in the garden, and throughout early history we see examples of men whose devotion reflected their first love for the Lord. Abel offered the best of his flock in faith, and God accepted his sacrifice because it sprang from a heart of love (Genesis 4:3–5). Enoch walked with God for 300 years, showing deep communion and loyalty, until God took him without death (Genesis 5:22–24). Noah found favor in God’s eyes, living righteously, and after the flood his first act was to build an altar in worship (Genesis 6:8–9; 8:20). Abraham responded in faith and obedience, leaving his homeland, building altars to call on the LORD, and even showing willingness to sacrifice Isaac, proving his love for God above all else (Genesis 12:1–8; 22:1–12). Abraham also honored God by giving a tenth of his battle spoils to Melchizedek, an act of gratitude and love (Genesis 14:18–20). Jacob, after his vision at Bethel, made a vow of loyalty that the LORD would be his God (Genesis 28:20–22). Joseph, when tempted by Potiphar’s wife, resisted sin out of reverence, declaring he could not sin against God (Genesis 39:7–9). These lives demonstrate that long before the law was given, true worship and love for God were shown through faith, obedience, gratitude, loyalty, and integrity.
But what I got to thinking about when it comes to this law, “love God,” was how it not only was the standard in history before The Mosaic law, but the law of love and God existed into eternity past.
Sermon Explanation: Love Before Creation
From the very beginning — before there even was a beginning — God existed, and God is love (1 John 4:8). Love is not a human invention, nor is it something God began to express only after creating people. Love flows from His eternal nature. Jesus Himself declared in John 17:24, “Father… you loved me before the foundation of the world.” Before mountains, seas, and stars, there was love: the Father delighting in the Son, and the Son rejoicing in the Father, in the unity of the Spirit. Within the triune Godhead, love is not merely an action but the very atmosphere of eternity.
This eternal love did not remain locked away in God’s heart. Ephesians 1:4–5 tells us that “in love” God chose us in Christ “before the foundation of the world.” Redemption was not God’s last-minute fix; it was His eternal plan of love, set in motion long before Adam ever sinned. Revelation 13:8 goes even further, describing Jesus as the “Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.” The cross was not accidental but essential — love written into history before history began.
So what does this mean for us today? It means that the love which saved us is unshakable and eternal. If God’s love for His Son never had a starting point, neither will His love for those who are in the Son have an ending point. As Paul triumphantly declares in Romans 8:38–39, “Nothing… shall be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Christian, your love for God may grow weak, but His love for you never fades. Before creation, He loved; in Christ, He proved that love at the cross; and in eternity to come, He will forever shower His people with that same unfailing love. Truly, love is eternal because God is eternal.
2. Was it part of the Mosaic law?
Yes. Deuteronomy 6:5 commands: “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.” This command is central to Israel’s faith and is reinforced throughout the law as the foundation of covenant loyalty. The Ten Commandments begin with this emphasis on love expressed through exclusive devotion: “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt… You shall have no other gods before me” (Exodus 20:2–3). The Shema in Deuteronomy 6:4–5 likewise declares, “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might,” a call for total, undivided devotion to the one true God. Other passages expand on this theme, showing that love is inseparable from obedience and service. Deuteronomy 10:12–13 asks, “What does the LORD your God require of you, but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the commandments… for your good?” Similarly, Deuteronomy 11:1 commands, “You shall therefore love the LORD your God and keep his charge, his statutes, his rules, and his commandments always.” Even warnings about false prophets served to test the people’s devotion, as Moses explained: “for the LORD your God is testing you, to know whether you love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul” (Deuteronomy 13:3–4). Love for God also carried blessings and consequences: “If you obey the commandments of the LORD your God… by loving the LORD your God, by walking in his ways… then you shall live and multiply, and the LORD your God will bless you” (Deuteronomy 30:16). Finally, Joshua, Moses’ successor, reiterated this same call: “…love the LORD your God, walk in all his ways, keep his commandments, cling to him, and serve him with all your heart and with all your soul” (Joshua 22:5). From the beginning, love for God was not an abstract idea but a lived reality expressed in loyalty, obedience, service, and wholehearted devotion.
To love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength (Deut. 6:5; Mark 12:30) means offering Him complete devotion in every dimension of life. In Hebrew thought, the heart (lēb) was not merely the seat of emotion but the center of will, thought, and inner decision-making; loving God with the heart means aligning desires and choices with His purposes. The soul (nephesh) referred to the whole of one’s life or being — not just an immaterial “spirit,” but the very breath of life itself; thus, to love God with your soul is to devote your entire existence, every breath, to Him. The addition of mind (dianoia) in the Greek of the New Testament emphasizes the intellectual dimension: engaging thought, understanding, and meditation so that love is not blind passion but informed devotion grounded in truth. Finally, strength (me’od) in Hebrew literally means “muchness” or “might,” pointing to one’s resources, energy, and capacity; loving God with strength means using physical abilities, possessions, and efforts in service to Him. Taken together, these terms show that loving God is not partial or compartmentalized — it is the total response of one’s inner life, outer actions, intellect, and resources, wholly devoted to the Lord.
3. Did Jesus and His disciples reiterate it?
Yes. Jesus called loving God the greatest commandment (Matthew 22:37), and the rest of the New Testament reinforces that truth as the foundation of Christian life. John wrote, “For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome” (1 John 5:3), while Paul taught that believers are to live with undivided devotion to the Lord (1 Corinthians 7:35). Jesus Himself stressed the necessity of single-hearted loyalty: “No one can serve two masters… You cannot serve God and money” (Matthew 6:24). He declared that our love for God must be supreme, above even family ties, saying, “Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me” (Matthew 10:37). He further taught that love for Him is proven through obedience: “If you love me, you will keep my commandments” (John 14:15), and promised that those who love Him will know the Father’s presence (John 14:23). Paul described Christians as those who love God, reminding us that “for those who love God all things work together for good” (Romans 8:28), that God has prepared eternal blessings for them (1 Corinthians 2:9), and that those who love God are known by Him (1 Corinthians 8:3). He closed his letter to the Ephesians with a blessing for “all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with love incorruptible” (Ephesians 6:24). James echoed this theme, promising the crown of life to those who love God and remain steadfast (James 1:12), and noting that the poor in this world are often chosen to be rich in faith and heirs of God’s kingdom, which He promised to those who love Him (James 2:5). Peter praised believers who love Christ even without having seen Him, rejoicing with inexpressible joy (1 Peter 1:8). John consistently emphasized that love is perfected in obedience (1 John 2:5), that we love only because God first loved us (1 John 4:19), and that loving God is inseparable from obeying His commandments (1 John 5:2–3). Jude likewise urged believers to “keep yourselves in the love of God” as they await the mercy of Christ unto eternal life (Jude 21). Altogether, Scripture makes clear that loving God means loyalty, obedience, devotion, endurance, joy, and trust, all flowing from the fact that He first loved us.
4. What should the Christian do with it today?
We are called to delight in God above all else. To love Him more than possessions, more than success, more than our very lives. To worship Him in spirit and truth (John 4:23–24). To live with a first-love passion that Revelation 2:4 warns us never to abandon.
It is so easy to be distracted from that kind of love.
A Christian can be distracted from wholehearted love for God with surprising ease, because the pull of the world, the weight of trials, and the subtle drift of routine all conspire against devotion. Jesus warned that no one can serve two masters (Matthew 6:24), yet money, possessions, and the pursuit of success often steal affections that belong to Him alone. Even good things—family, ministry, service, or traditions—can begin to occupy the throne of the heart when love cools into mere duty. The parable of the sower reminds us that the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things choke out the word and render it unfruitful (Mark 4:19). Sometimes distraction comes not from rebellion but from slow erosion: busyness that crowds out prayer, fatigue that dulls spiritual hunger, or hardship that breeds doubt. Left unchecked, these distractions can cause a believer to keep running the motions of faith while the flame of first love grows dim. That is why Scripture constantly calls us to remember, repent, and return to the God who first loved us (Revelation 2:4–5).
ChatGPT said:
Here’s a list of practical, biblical ways to rekindle love for God when it has grown cold:
Take one step of obedience, however small. Love grows deeper when it is expressed in action (John 14:15).
Conclusion
We have come full circle. The purpose of the moral law is not rules for rules’ sake. It is love. Love for God. Love for neighbor.
The Ten Commandments, the statutes of Moses, the teachings of Jesus — all of it flows from the heart of God, a heart of love. And that love reached its greatest expression not in words carved on stone tablets, but in God giving His Son on a wooden cross.
John 3:16 says: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
Romans 5:8 says: “But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
Illustration: Think of an artist painting a masterpiece. Up close, you see brushstrokes, lines, and details that don’t seem connected. But when you step back, the picture becomes clear. In the same way, each individual law — don’t steal, don’t murder, don’t lie — looks like one brushstroke. But when you step back, the whole picture is love. And the ultimate masterpiece is the cross, where God’s love was revealed in its fullness.
Brothers and sisters, the law has always been about love. And now, in Christ, we are empowered to love as He loved us. So let us love our neighbor, and let us love our God — with all that we are. When the world sees that love...
Closing Prayer
Heavenly Father, thank You for this journey through Your Word. Thank You for showing us that Your moral law was never meant to weigh us down but to point us toward love — love for You and love for our neighbor. Lord, forgive us for the many times we have failed to love as You have called us to love. Thank You that in Jesus Christ, our failures are forgiven, and His perfect love is given to us. Fill us now with Your Spirit, that we might live as people of love, showing Christ to the world around us. In Jesus’ name, Amen.