So Many Choices! (Ephesians 1:3-14)

Have you ever looked at a menu and found it hard to decide what to order because there were so many good choices? Sometimes we can go to a restaurant or café and something on the menu appeals to us, so we choose it straight away. At other times, however, there can be so many good options that we can struggle to pick just one item for our meal.

When I sit down each week with the Bible readings to plan my message, the first thing I do is listen for good news in the texts. The Apostle Paul writes that faith comes through hearing the message of Jesus (Romans 10:17) and that the gospel, the message of Jesus’ crucifixion, is God’s power in our lives (Romans 1:16; 1 Corinthians 1:18,23,24). The starting point and main focus of every message I prepare is to share the good news of Jesus’ death and resurrection for us so we can hear the gospel and grow in our faith in God who gave his Son for us on the cross and raised him to new life.

Most weeks there is some good news in the Bible readings that clearly stands out. Like looking at a menu where one item is an easy choice, usually there is something in the readings which speaks good news that I can share with God’s people. This week, however, was different. When I sat down to listen for good news to share with the people of our parish, there were so many choices I wasn’t sure which one to focus on. Like looking at a menu with so many good choices that it’s hard to decide on one, this week’s readings had so much good news in them it was hard for me to settle on just one.

One way to find good news in a text is to listen for what God is doing. In Ephesians 1:3-14 (NLT), this week’s New Testament reading, God is doing a lot! For example, God is:

• Blessing us with every spiritual blessing in Jesus (v3)
• Choosing us to be holy and blameless (v4)
• Deciding in advance to adopt us as his children and legal heirs (v5)
• Pouring his out glorious grace on us (v6)
• Purchasing our freedom and forgiving our sin through the blood of Jesus (v7)
• Showering his kindness on us (8)
• Revealing to us his plan to bring all things together in Christ (vv9,10)
• Guaranteeing our identity and inheritance by giving us the Holy Spirit (vv13,14)

God gives us all these things through his love for us in the death and resurrection of Jesus. As we explore what Paul tells us God has done, is doing and will continue to do for us, we can find good news, the gospel of Jesus, which gives us life through faith in him.

Instead of focussing on just one of these good news statements that Paul writes to us, with so many choices this week I began to wonder what might sound like good news for you? With the circumstances of our lives, with things that are happening in us or around us, as we celebrate Christmas, spend time with family and friends, or as we move from one calendar year into another, what in here sounds like good news to you? Is it God blessing us with every spiritual blessing in Christ? Is it that God has chosen us to be holy and blameless in his sight? Is it God deciding in advance to adopt us as his dearly loved children and heirs? Does God pouring out his glorious grace into our lives bring us hope, joy or peace? If we are carrying guilt, does Jesus shedding his blood for us to give us freedom and forgiveness sound like good news? Or God showering his kindness on us like summer rain, even when we are unkind to others? If we are facing uncertainties in life, does God revealing his plan to bring all things together in Christ help us to trust him? Or does God’s gift of the Holy Spirit to guarantee our identity and inheritance sound like good news? When we read or listen to God’s word, listening for what God is doing, and asking how that is good news for us in the middle of everything happening in our lives, this good news gives us faith and life.

That’s how we grow spiritually. In last week’s message, I talked about growing in wisdom, maturity and grace in our relationships with God and with other people. Growth is evidence of life, and as we receive new life through faith in Jesus, God wants us to be growing in the life he gives us so we can produce the good fruit which comes with faith. This growth comes from being in God’s word and listening for the good news of Jesus. As we hear what God has done, is doing, and will do for us in Jesus, the Holy Spirit will grow our faith in him and give us the capacity to display the faith he gives in the way we live our lives.

This week’s reading points us to various ways that the good news makes a difference in our lives. Trusting that God blesses us with every spiritual blessing helps us to live faithfully for him by serving and loving others. Believing that God has chosen us to be holy and blameless gives us a positive view of ourselves. God adopting us as his children and heirs means that we can find a strong sense of our identity in him and who we are in relationship with him. We can find strength in the good news that God pours his glorious grace over us. We can be set free from guilt, shame and regret in the good news that God purchased our freedom and forgiveness in Jesus. Finding God’s kindness to us in Jesus to helps us to show kindness to others, even when it’s hard. Trusting in God’s plan to bring all things together in Jesus can give us the strength to keep going when we are facing uncertainties or life is hard. Believing that God gives us his Holy Spirit to guarantee who we are and what he gives us in Christ can provide us with every good thing we need in life to produce the good fruit of the Holy Spirit.

God gives his word to us to nurture and grow our faith through the good news of Jesus so we can grow, mature and produce the fruit of God’s goodness in our lives. By listening for the good news of what God has done, is doing and will do for us because of his love for us in Jesus, the Holy Spirit grows faith in us and God shapes our lives to reflect the life of Jesus more and more.

When you go to a café or restaurant, do you find it easy or difficult to decide what to order? Does one item on the menu stand out to you or does it all look good? There is so much good news for us in Ephesians 1:3-14. If you’re still struggling to find good news for your life in this passage, you might like to take it home, read it through again, and ask the Holy Spirit to show you how these words can be good news for you. As we trust what God says he has done, is doing, or will do for us in Jesus, may God produce the good fruit he is looking for in our lives so everything we say and do will praise and glorify him for his grace to us in Jesus.

More to think about or discuss:

• When you read a menu, do you find it easy to choose one thing or does it all look good to you? How do you decide what to order when there are lots of good choices?
• When you read your Bible, do you find it easy or challenging to find good news in God’s word? How can we help you hear God’s good news for you in Jesus through his word?
• What sounds like good news to you in Ephesians 1:3-14? How might that good news make a difference in your life?