Louie Giglio - The Greatest Gift
God’s word says that the wages of sin is death. So really, what this is all about today is not about being good or being bad; it’s about life and death. But the gift—can you say «gift»? —of God is eternal life. One option is death, and the other is life, and that life is connected to something; it’s in a person, Christ Jesus, who is Lord. What a privilege it is to be in this place again today, and what a privilege to have been here for the past few days. It has been mentioned by everyone who’s been on this platform, but I’m telling you, it has been on fire in here.
These 18 to 25-year-olds came through the door filled with fire. They came in and, at the drop, they were all in; it wasn’t a slow build. I’m looking at their faces right now to see if they agree, and some of them do. Normally, you come into something like this and think, «Oh, it’s going to build.» This thing didn’t build; it just was. They were hungry and ready, knowing this world doesn’t have what they need. They came for Jesus, and it has been incredibly inspiring to be a part of it for Shelly, me, and our team—to be in the room with them and with Him. It has been so inspiring, so incredibly encouraging.
Then to be back here today, in our house—it was mentioned again; it’s the first time we’ve ever really seen our whole church. Hello, church! Some of you are like, «We’re not part of your church; we just saw something on a billboard and decided to come worship Jesus at St. Farm.» Well, hello, church, because you’re still in the church. And some of you might be thinking, «Well, we’re not in the church; we just saw a lot of people coming in and we’re here.» Well, you can get into the church today; you can get into Christ today; you can receive this gift today. Does anybody have a leftover Christmas present at home that just doesn’t have a name? Maybe you got an extra one, or the person didn’t show up, or you’re one of those planners who just wants to have something in case someone unexpected comes by. You could say, «Oh, I’ve got you something too!» You know, I hope you like it. Does anyone have anything leftover at home? No? Not anybody? Okay, thank you so much. I was getting nervous here; maybe it’s just me.
This is a real present; I wrapped it myself. Oh, isn’t that something! I wrapped four gifts, so don’t go too crazy. How many of you guys wrapped at least one gift? Let’s see. Anybody? No? No, not the ladies. Guys, how many of you wrapped at least one present? How many wrapped no presents? You’re like, «I don’t wrap presents; it’s not my thing.» The reason why I have it is that I ordered these. This is amazing, by the way. I saw it in my feed, clicked on the link, and looked at it for over a year. I thought, «Ah, it can’t be that great,» and then I got one, and it is that great.
So I ordered several for some people on our list, and they didn’t make it. We had to go do Christmas, which we did, and we had to buy them something else, which we did, and then all these came. I wrapped them; I didn’t really know why, and then the Lord gave me this message for today, so I brought one of the ones. I got a couple more; I wasn’t going to be that generous, but I brought one of the ones because we might have extra people drop in. I don’t know; maybe someone is still coming, and I want to give this to someone today—not right now, but at some point. I’m trying to figure out who. So if you see me looking intently, that’s because I’m trying to figure out who this matches because some of you don’t want this, and some of you wouldn’t know how to use it. Some of you would go, «Oh, I’ve been wanting that; I’ve seen that in my feed too, and I’ve been wanting that.» I’m trying to figure out who that person is. We’ll have some time. I want to talk about the gift but also about gifts.
Jonathan Puda is a pastor in Waco, Texas, and he’s sitting up there right behind Sadi. They both brought amazing words at Passion, and Jonathan Puda—I think his love language is giving gifts. I don’t know this for sure, but that’s my assumption, given that he showed up once with little keychains for all of us with our initials on them. He was just pulling them out of his pocket, saying, «Here you go, Christian Stanfield, KS. Here you go, Lou Giglio, LG.» I’m like, «What? Does he have a thing at home where he’s making these?»
What is going on with this? Then one day at our office, a box arrives, and someone says, «This is from Jonathan Puda,» and I’m like, «Cool.» I open it, and it’s one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen. I loved it and put it in my office, which we’re going to show you a picture of. This is an old office; you can tell by the telescope over here—that was also a gift. I have the tea kettle, and I have my space books, of course. These are cool maps that we had done for cities where we’ve done Passion events around the world. Then here’s this thing; check this guy out. You’re like, «What is that exactly?» It’s a lamp, obviously, some kind of Soviet-era Russian astronaut rocket on top, with all these symbols around the bottom and in cool colors.
This is the coolest gift because he knows I’m a space geek and he knows I would love this thing. Whether he got it on Facebook Marketplace, which he’s told us all about a few days ago, or found it at a flea market, I don’t know where he got this thing, but there’s still eBay. I didn’t know that was still around. He thought Lou would love this. Are you still with me? It’s okay if I just show you this for a minute. He thought Lou would love this because he’s got a book called «The Space Shuttle» and another called «Moon Paradise,» so yeah, he’s going to love this. But for me to love it, he had to figure out how to make it work in America because it wasn’t from here. He had to either go or get someone to rework the plugs so that I could plug it in here. He didn’t want me just to have it; he wanted it to glow. And it’s glowing. Isn’t that amazing? Thank you!
I can’t tell you about the last gift he sent me. I don’t know; maybe there’s now pressure because you have to keep sending stuff. But he sent me another lunar solar type thing the other day, and I just thought, what kind of person sees something, thinks about you, goes out of their way, and takes two extra steps? That’s the kind of person whose love language is giving gifts. I want to tell you, starting in 2025, that God in heaven, His love language is giving gifts to us. And when He gives them, it’s not some kind of generic, «Oh, I have ten of these; I hope you like one.» No, He’s looking at your life; He understands who you are and where you are, and He’s thinking about what you need most. We’re all in that mindset right now going into a new year. Maybe we need to lose a little bit of weight, get in better shape, find a different job, improve our mental health, regulate our screen time, ditch a relationship, or find a relationship. We’re all in that zone right now; it’s a brand-new year and a brand-new opportunity. What do we need to be moving toward? God today is on that journey with you and with me, with us, today. But primarily, He’s on that journey today in this place saying, «I want to give you this gift going into 2025. I want you to have the certainty of your eternal destination.»
You’re like, «What? Why?» I mean, we’re all here; we’re Passion City Church; of course, we’re all certain of our eternal destination. But Jonathan, the reason I brought this lamp and the whole thing with Jonathan and his amazing gifts is that he did something in his message a couple of days ago that just blew my mind and blew my heart up. He asked this arena filled to the rafters, beyond these curtains to the very last seat, «If you died today, how certain are you that you would spend eternity with God? That you would be in heaven?» On a scale from zero (not sure at all) to ten (being sure), where are you on that scale? He had everybody close their eyes, but I didn’t close mine because I’m in charge, so I was looking around. He said, «If you’re in a zero to three…» and I was going to do this this morning, but I don’t think we really need to because I think the results would probably be very similar.
This was an arena filled with people who came to a Jesus event; they had already been singing to Jesus and worshipping Him with all their energy. Some of them were people I assumed were in the choir or part of our church. He said, «If you’re in a zero to three,» and all the eyes in the room were closed—could I just see your hand? Hands went up everywhere! He said, «If you’re in a four to six, could you raise your hand?» Hundreds of hands went up everywhere! He said, «If you’re in a seven or an eight,» I don’t remember exactly how he broke it down—could you raise your hand? Hundreds of hands went up throughout this arena. He said, «If you’re a nine, could you raise your hand?» He didn’t ask for the tens; he was just gauging. I would guess that by the time the zero to threes, four to sixes, sevens and eights, and nines had all raised their hands, thousands of people in this arena had raised their hands.
The thing that’s powerful, the thing we saw over here in this text we looked at, is that the wages of sin is death. So, we’re not on a sliding scale from bad to good; we’re not working our way from zero to ten with God. You’re either alive in Jesus or dead in sin. It didn’t matter if the person was kind of sure, not sure—anything less than a ten means the person doesn’t have a relationship and salvation with Christ. I thought today, going into this new year, God wants to give a gift. The gift He wants to give you is life, and the life He wants to give you is in His Son Jesus. The life He wants to give you in His Son is something He wants you to be sure of.
He wants to give you in 2025, if you don’t have it already, a ten. He wants to give you a ten today if you don’t have it already. If you’re a four, He wants to give you a ten. If you’re a 6.2, He wants to give you a ten. If you’re saying, «I don’t really know; I hadn’t thought about it,» He wants to give you a ten. He wants you to walk into 2025 knowing that, God forbid, something were to happen to you—you would know for sure and your family would know for sure, your wife would know for sure, your kids would know for sure, that the person who works in the cubicle next to you would know for sure. You could say, «I know they’re in heaven because I know they have a relationship that they are sure of in Jesus Christ.» That’s the gift! That’s not something you earn; that is a gift.
If we could break it down for a second, I’d love to look at this text with you: Romans 5. If you have your scripture, you can turn to it. I’m going to work our way through it. It says in verse one, «Therefore, since we have been justified through faith,» can you say that with me? «Justified through faith.» Can you say it with me? «Justified through faith.» That’s an important idea! Today we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith—there’s faith again—into this grace in which we now stand.
So, Paul is writing to believers; he’s writing to the church, and he’s assuming because of the journey he’s been on with these people that they understand the Gospel, that is, the good news of Jesus Christ. As he writes through Romans to unpack for them the certainty of their faith, the riches of their faith, the outworking of their faith, and the results of their faith, as he’s coming to chapter five, he’s really doubling down on how they all got saved and how they got into this position. This is a position—what is the position? —they have access by faith into this grace in which we now stand.
So, that’s a position; now I have access to something, and because of that access, I’m standing somewhere, and where I’m standing is in a place of peace with God. Man, I think that’s what everybody on the planet wants. You can’t go anywhere on Earth where there isn’t a religious system. People are trying to make peace with God. People were created for Him and they want peace with Him. Even in ancient times, people who had never heard of Jesus would make offerings in hopes of making peace with God. He’s saying we have peace with God; we have it because we’ve gained access by grace and faith into this place where we now stand at peace with God.
This access word is truly a beautiful word, by the way. It doesn’t mean like there’s a keypad and a code over here. If you know the right code and can punch it in, you can get access to God and peace with God. The word access there doesn’t mean that kind of access. It means that someone would take you, bring you, and formally introduce you to someone of importance. Christ isn’t saying, «Hey, here’s the code and check the box, say the prayer.» Jesus is saying, «If you ask me to, I will bring you to the Father. I will bring you to your Creator and I will formally introduce you, saying, 'Father, I know that we had some separation with Louie, but on my behalf, on my death, burial and resurrection, I would like to bring Louie into the Holy of Holies, to the throne of Almighty God, to the God of grace and glory, and I would like to introduce Louie to you.' I would like for Louie to know that he now has access to God because of me.» That’s our position.
Now, how do we get there? We got there by God solving this problem. You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Can anybody say amen to that? Amen! Christ didn’t die for pretty good people; He died for the ungodly. If you don’t think you’re ungodly, then you don’t need Christ. But the wages of sin isn’t that you’re bad; the wages of sin is that you’re dead. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person; though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. That’s the Gospel! That’s the good news! That is what gets me off the treadmill of wondering, «What more must I do to get into a place where I can have peace with God?» Look, God loved you enough to do what needed to be done for you to have peace with God while you were still in your worst condition. God demonstrated His love for you and for us.
Since we have now been justified—anybody been justified in this place today? Just checking to see! Okay, that’s not a definitive yes; it was definitely not 100%. So, this is a good word. How? By His blood—whose blood? Christ’s blood, right? How much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through Him? Through Jesus! For if while we were God’s enemies we were reconciled to Him through the death of His Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through His life? Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation. Can I just talk about that for a second?
What it means is that on one side of our ledger was a debt, and the debt was massive because we were dead. The wages of sin is death; it wasn’t just that we owed a lot; it was that we were dead. Over here is a holy God, and what the text is telling us is that God reconciled us. Is anybody seeking reconciliation in 2025—in a marriage, a business relationship, or with a friend? Is one of your hopes and dreams for 2025 that somehow these two things that are broken will get reconciled? Well, this is what the text is saying: God reconciled; he somehow put it back together. He somehow brought us back to God. How did He do it? Well, He’s telling us how He did it. He’s telling us that He did it through the blood of Christ.
That’s how He brought us back together, and then He explains it: «Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, in this way death came to all people because all sinned.» To be sure, sin was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not charged against anyone’s account where there is no law. Nevertheless, death— that’s what sin does—reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command as did Adam. What he’s saying is that when Adam and Eve sinned, sin entered the world and into the lifeline of humanity. Everyone who came from Adam and Eve was born into sin. You’re thinking, «That doesn’t sound very fair.»
God’s going to be more than fair in just a moment. But I always believe that if Adam and Eve hadn’t sinned and I wasn’t born into that sin, I would have done a pretty good job of it myself. But the gift—here we go! Hello, somebody is getting this. By the way, I’m still trying to figure it out, and I have no idea, and I’m looking around, but nobody seems like they really want that. The gift is not like the trespass; for if the many died by the trespass of the one man—how cool is this—how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man Jesus Christ overflow to the many? So, if Adam and Eve’s sin coming down doesn’t seem very fair, how fair does this seem? That when Jesus Christ gave His innocent life on a cross to pay for sin, God forgave everyone who put their trust in Him. Does that feel fair? No, it is the gift through the grace of God, and that’s the beauty of the good news!
Nor can the gift of God be compared with the result of one man’s sin. The judgment followed one sin—are you still with me? —and brought condemnation. But the gift followed many transgressions (all of our sins) and brought justification. So, one sin brought death; one life brought forgiveness for all sins. For if by the trespass of the one man death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive—uh-oh, new word! Hello! —who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and the gift of righteousness, how much more will they reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ? What in the world is happening? People, we are justified by His blood, and we receive the gift! Wow! How do you get righteous? It’s a gift! How do you get peace with God? It’s a gift! How do you get justified? It’s a gift! In other words, how do you get into a relationship with God? It’s a gift! How do you get forgiven? It’s a gift! How do you get right standing with God? It’s a gift! How do you get access into the holy place with God? It’s a gift through Jesus Christ.
So consequently, as we come to the end, just as one trespass resulted in condemnation, one righteous act results in justification and life for all people. For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, also through the obedience of the one man many will be made righteous. That’s another word for being saved, but it’s a bigger word. It’s not just saying, «I pressed the code and now I got to take it to heaven.» It’s saying that my whole being has now been changed into a new position with God. I am now made righteous, forgiven, and made new in Christ—not apart from Christ like a code, but in Christ. Now I am a brand new person!
The law was brought in so that the trespass might increase, but where sin increased, grace increased all the more. We preached on that the other day. So that just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring—there it is! I knew it would be here somewhere, thank you, Lord—to bring what? Eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord! The question was, if you died today, how certain are you that you would have eternal life? If you died today, on a scale of zero to ten, how certain are you that you would be in heaven with God? Access to God, peace with God, new standing with God, righteousness of God in Christ—how certain are you that you would have eternal life?
What He’s been telling us through this text is that it is a gift. The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life. He said it a different way: «For it is by grace you have been saved,» Paul wrote. «Through faith, grace through faith, and it is not of yourselves; it is the gift of God. It’s not by works.» That’s not how you get the access; that’s not how you get the right standing; that’s not how you get justified; that’s not how you get righteousness; that’s not how you get peace with God. You don’t get those things by works; they are a gift so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
He wants us to live a great life, but you don’t get saved by living a great life. You get saved through faith; it is a gift of God. I wonder today, is there anyone in this gathering that’s seeing this? Because if there is, God is extending right now the gift. The gift is Jesus—not just a historical figure, but the Son of God on Earth living out a perfect life, taking on the sin of all mankind, ultimately ending up where sin takes you. The wages of sin is death; that’s why Jesus died—not because of His sins' wages, but because of my sins' wages. The wages of my sin was His death—and that’s how God reconciled me to Himself. He took what I owed and canceled it out, and offered it to me as a gift. Christ has already died for your sins, but that doesn’t mean that you’re saved. It means that God is extending to you a gift.
And it works in your country; you can plug it in in your house. It will illuminate your heart and your life. He was thinking about you when He went to that cross. Only Jesus had the capacity to think about every human being who ever lived or would live when He went to that cross. Only He had the capacity to know your name on the day they nailed Him to that cross. Only God in human flesh had the capacity to know the row and the seat in the section that you would be sitting in right this second. And when they drove the nails, He said, «This is a gift from the Father who created you and loves you. This is a gift for you. This is God’s gift for you.»
What’s inside? Peace with me, justification, righteousness, right standing, access to God in Christ—an invitation and an introduction to Yahweh. Yes, you have to turn away from your sin because that’s what got you in a position of needing reconciliation and what’s got you dead. Yes, you need to turn away and turn to Him. You’re not coming to God on an introduction to say, «Thank you, it’s very nice to meet you. I hope you’ll bring me to heaven when I die.» You’re coming to God on an introduction to say, «Oh my word! How is it possible that someone like me could be standing in the presence of Almighty God? I yield my life; I yield everything I have and am to You. Thank you for the love that was demonstrated to me and that while I was in my worst condition, You died for me. I want to live for You! I receive it!» That’s the word—they received it, this gift.
It’s going to be such a letdown; I shouldn’t have gone this far. I should have just given it to somebody. This is going to be a huge letdown. I’ll tell you what it is in a second, and we’re closing. This gift—I’m going to hand it to somebody in just a minute. It’s nothing compared to the grace of God; you get the point. That’s not the point. But if they don’t take it, they don’t have it. How could it be that the God of heaven would say, going into 2025, «If you don’t have it, I want you to have a ten. I want you to live every day of your life with a ten. I want you to follow me knowing that it’s a sealed deal. If God forbid something were to happen to you in 2025, you would know for absolute certain that you would be with God in heaven forever.»
Does anybody want to receive that today? Thank you, gentleman standing up right there. You preach a long time in life to not have to ask anybody to do anything. Praise God! Does anybody want to receive it today? He’s offering it. You have to do two things. You have to get over yourself. Someone possibly isn’t going to receive this gift today because you don’t think you deserve it. You think that the stuff that’s in your past is too great to be overcome. You think this message is for everybody else in here but not you. You’re like, «How could somebody get texts from their mom saying, 'Are you still alive? ' How could they get saved? How could someone who’s so far gone that they don’t even answer their family get saved?» Because at some point, he got over his past and realized that what was in the hand of God was great enough to overwhelm everything that he had done and to bring him into what Christ had done for him. Come on, church, this is the Gospel! This is the Gospel!
So I want to give anybody a chance today to receive once and for all, and it’ll be epic because you’ll know, «I was in a basketball arena on the day that I got it, and I went, 'Oh, it’s a gift! It’s a gift! Thank you! I need it! I have wanted it, and I receive it! '»