The Greatest Gift - Receiving What You Could Never Earn - Louie Giglio

0:41 but the gift, can you say gift, of God is eternal life. So one option is death and the other option is life. And the life is in, so the life is connected to something, it's in a person, Christ Jesus, who is Lord. what a privilege to be in this place again today and what a privilege to be in this place for the past few days it's been mentioned by everyone who's been on on this platform but i'm telling you it's been on fire in here these 18 to 25 year olds came through the door on fire they came in and at the drop they just were all in it wasn't a oh this is going to build I'm looking at their faces right now just to see if they agree some of them do you know normally you'll come into something like that and you'll go oh it's going to build it's going to build it's going to build it's going to build it's going to build this thing didn't build it just was they were hungry they were ready they know this world doesn't have what they need and they came for Jesus and it has been so inspiring to be a part of it for Shelly and me and for our team just to be in the room with them and with him it's been so inspiring so incredibly encouraging.

2:22 And then to be back here today as our house, it's been mentioned again, just 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 we want to come worship Jesus at State Farm. Well, hello, church, because you're still in the church. And some of you are like, well, we're not in the church. We just saw a lot of people coming in, and we're in here. Well, you can get into the church today. You can get into Christ today. You can receive this gift today. Anybody have a leftover Christmas present? at your house that just didn'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 encase somebody comes that you didn't expect, you can go, oh, and I've got you something also. You know, I hope you like it. Anybody got anything left over at the house? No? Not anybody? Okay, thank you so much. I was getting nervous here.

3:25 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 guys wrapped at least one gift? Let's see. Anybody? No, no, not the ladies. Guys. How many guys wrapped at least one present? How many guys wrapped no presents? You're like, I don't wrap presents. It's not my thing. The reason why I have it is because I ordered these. This is amazing, by the way, this thing. I saw it in my feed. and I clicked on the link, and I saw it for a long time, like for over a year, and then I thought, ah, it can't be that great, and then I got one, and it is that great, and so I ordered several for some people on our list, and they didn't make it, so 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.

4:35 So I wrapped them. I didn't really know why. And then the Lord gave me this message for today. And so I brought one of the ones. I got a couple more. I wasn't going to be that generous. I brought one of the ones because we might have extra people drop in. I don't know. Maybe there's still somebody coming. And I want to give this to somebody today. Not right now, but at some point. And I'm trying to figure out who, so if you see me just kind of looking intently, that's because I'm trying to figure out who this matches, because some of you don't want this. Some of you wouldn't know how to use it. Some of you would go, oh, I've been wanting that. I've been seeing that in my feed also, and I've been wanting that. And I'm trying to figure out who that person is. We'll have some time. I want to talk about the gift. but I want to talk about gifts. Jonathan Pakluda is a pastor in Waco, Texas, and he's sitting up there right behind Sadie.

5:39 They both brought amazing words at Passion. And Jonathan Pakluda is, I think his love language is giving gifts. I don't know this for sure, but this is my assumption, given that you showed up here once and you had little key chains for all of us with our initials on them, and he's just pull them out of his pocket. Like, there you go, Christian Stanfill, KS. Here you go, Louis Giglio, LG. And I'm like, what, has he got like a thing at home that he's doing these things? What is going on with this? And then one day at our office, a box arrives and someone says, this is this from Jonathan Picluda. And I'm like, cool. So I open it and it's like one of the coolest things I've ever seen before, and I loved it and put it in my office, which we're going to show you a picture of. This is an old guide's office, you can tell. I have the telescope, of course, over here. That was also a gift. I have the tea kettle. I have my space books, of course.

6:42 These are cool maps that we had done for cities that we've done passion events in around the world. and then here's this thing check this guy out that. you're like what is that exactly it's a lamp obviously it's some kind of Soviet era Russian astronaut rocket on top. all these symbols around the bottom down here and it's orange and this cool green and it's just this the coolest gift because he knows i'm a space geek and he knows that i would love this thing and whether he got it on facebook marketplace which he's told us all about a few days ago, or whether he found it in a flea market. I don't know where he got this thing, but on eBay. There's still eBay. I didn't know that was still with us.

8:00 And he thought Louis would love this. Are you still with me? It's okay if I just show you this for a minute? Louis would love this. Because he's got a book right here called The Space Shuttle and one called Moon Paradise. So yeah, he's going to love this. But for me to love it, he had to go figure out how to make it work in America. Because it wasn't from America. So he went or got some people to rework the plugs so that you can plug it in in America. because he didn't want me just to have it he wanted it to glow and it's glowing isn't that amazing thank you it's not I can't tell you about the the last gift he sent me I don't know maybe I don't know he's now there's pressure because you gotta 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 takes two extra steps that's the kind of person whose love language is giving gifts.

9:30 And I want to tell you starting 2025 that God in heaven, his love language is giving gifts to us. And when he gives them, it's not some kind of, you know, generic, oh, I got 10 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. And we're all in that mindset right now going into a new year. Maybe we need to lose a little bit of weight. Maybe we need to get in a little bit better shape. Maybe we want to find a different job. Maybe you want to improve our mental health. Maybe you want to regulate our screen time. Maybe you want to ditch a relationship or find a relationship. We're all in that zone right now.

10:23 It's a brand new year. It's a brand new opportunity. What is it that we need to be moving toward? And 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 why would I mean we're all here we're Passion City Church of course we all are certain of our eternal destination but Jonathan the reason why I brought this lamp and the whole thing with Jonathan and the whole thing about his giving amazing gifts is because 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 up to the rafters, up beyond these curtains in the top, all the way to the very last seat.

11:23 He said, if you died today, how certain of you, certain are you that you would spend eternity with God, that you would be in heaven on a scale from zero being not sure at all to 10 being sure. Where are you on that scale? And then he had everybody close their eyes, but I didn't close mine because I'm in charge. And so I was looking around and 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 because this was an arena filled with people who came to a Jesus event. They had already for session after session been singing to Jesus and worshiping him with all their energy.

12:21 some of them were people I'm assuming because they were in the choir are part of our church and he said if you're in a zero to three 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 a 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 where he broke it down could you raise your hand hundreds of hands went up all throughout this arena he said if you're a nine could you raise your hand he didn't ask for the 10 it was just gauging and I would guess that by the time the zero to threes and the four to sixes and the seven and eights and the nines had all raised their hands. Thousands of people in this arena had raised their hand. And the thing that's powerful, the thing that we saw over here in this text that we looked at, the wages of sin is death. So we're not on a sliding scale of bad to good. We're not working our way up from zero to 10 with God. You're either alive in Jesus or you're dead in sin.

13:58 So it didn't matter if the person was kind of sure, not too sure, anything less than a 10, the person doesn't have a relationship and salvation with Christ. and I thought today going into this new year God wants to give a gift and the gift obviously he wants to give you is life and the life that he wants to give you is in his son Jesus and the life he wants to give you in his son Jesus is something that he wants you to be sure of he wants to give you in 2025 if you don't have it already he's got you something and he wants to give you, if you don't have it already, a 10. He wants to give you a 10 in 2025. He wants to give you a 10 today. If you don't have it already, if you're a four, he wants to give you a 10. If you're a 6.2, he wants to give you a 10. If you're, I really don't know, I hadn't thought about it, he wants to give you a 10. He wants you to walk into 2025 knowing if God forbid something were to happen to you. Now you know for sure, and your family knows for sure, your wife knows for sure, your kids know for sure, the person who works in the cubicle next to you knows for sure, I know that they are in heaven because I know they have a relationship that they are sure of in Jesus Christ. And that's what the gift, that's a gift. That's not something you earn, that is a gift. If we could break it down just for a second. I'd love to look at this text with us.

15:38 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 1, 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 have understood the gospel that is the good news of Jesus Christ. And so he's writing through Romans to unpack for them the certainty of their faith and the riches of their faith and the outworking of their faith and the results of their faith. And as he's coming to chapter 5, he's really doubling down on how they all got saved, how they got into this position.

16:57 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 where I have peace with God. Man, I think that's what everybody on the planet wants. you can't go anywhere on earth that there isn't a religious system whereby 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 have never heard of Jesus would offer an offering hoping to make peace with God and 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 a really beautiful word, by the way.

18:08 Just if we could just dig in there just for a second. It doesn't mean like a keypad. And there's a code over here on this keypad. And 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 and bring you and formally introduce you to someone of importance. That Christ isn't saying, hey, here's the code. Check the box. Pray 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 and say Father I know that we had some separation with Louis but on my behalf on my death, burial and resurrection I would like to bring Louis into the Holy of Holies to the throne of Almighty God to the God of grace and glory, and I would like to introduce Louis to you. And I would like for Louis to know that he now has access to God because of me. That's our position. Now, how did 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. Anybody say amen to that?

19:46 Christ didn't die for pretty good people. He died for the ungodly. And 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 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 are still in your worst condition, God demonstrated his love for you and for us.

20:48 Since we have now been justified, anybody been justified in this place today? Just checking to see. Okay, that's not, that's not a, definitely was not 100%, so this is a good word. how by his blood whose blood Christ's blood right here 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. So can I just talk about that just for a second?

21:43 What it means is, is that on one side of our ledger was a debt. And the debt was massive because we were dead. Wages of sin is death. So it wasn't just that we owed a lot, it's that we were dead. And over here is a holy God. and what the text is telling us is is that God reconciled us anybody seeking reconciliation in 2025 in a marriage or in a business relationship or with a friend and one of your hopes and dreams for 2025 is 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. And 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.

22:52 Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man and death through sin, in this way, death came to all people because all sin. 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 do not sin by breaking a command as did Adam. So what he's saying is, is that when Adam and Eve sinned, sin entered into the world and it entered into the lifeline of humanity and everyone who came from Adam and Eve was born into sin. You're like, that doesn't sound very fair. Well, God's going to be more than fair in just a moment. But I always believed that if Adam and Eve didn't sin and I wasn't born into their sin, I would have done a pretty good job of it myself.

23:53 but the gift here we go hello somebody's getting this by the way i'm still trying to figure it out and i have no idea and i'm looking 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 by Adam and Eve's sin coming down, that 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 grace of God. And that's the beauty of the good news.

24:59 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 trespasses 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 of righteousness how do you get righteous Thanks.

25:57 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, that's the result just as we're at the end just as one trespass resulted in condemnation one righteous act results in justification in life for all people for justice 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 a ticket to heaven. It's saying that my whole being now has been changed into a new position with God. I am now made righteous, forgiven, made new in Christ, not apart from Christ, a code, but in Christ now, a brand new person.

27:21 so 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, here's the end, grace might reign through righteousness to bring, there it is, I knew it would be there 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.

28:13 Peace with God. New standing with God. Position with God. the righteousness of God in Christ, how certain are you that you would have eternal life? And what he's been telling us all 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 the 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.

29:11 For we are God's handiwork created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. So he does want 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 that? because if there is, God is extending right now the gift.

29:53 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 sin's wages, but because of my sin's wages. The wages of my sin were his death. and that's how God reconciled me to himself because he took what he paid and canceled out what I owed and offered it to me as a gift.

30:50 Christ has already died for your sins, but that doesn't mean that you're saved. It means that God's 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 had lived, lived, or would live when he went to that cross. Only he had the capacity to know your name on the day that they nailed him on that cross.

31:31 Only God in human flesh would have the capacity to know the row and the seat and 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 that's what got you dead yes you need to turn away and turn to you're not coming to god on an introduction to say thank you it's very nice to meet you i hope that you'll bring me to heaven when i die you're coming to God on an introduction to go, 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 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. That's the word. They received it. This gift, it's going to be such a letdown. I shouldn't have even gone this far. I should have just given it to somebody. This is going to be a huge letdown.

33:31 I'll tell you what it is in a second. And we're closing here. This gift. in just a minute, I'm going to hand it to somebody. It's nothing. To compare this to the grace of God, you get the point. That's not the point.

33:54 But if they don't take it, they don't have it. and 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 10 i want you to live every day of your life with a 10 i want you to follow me knowing that it's a sealed deal and if God forbid in 2025 something were to happen to you you know for absolute certain that you would be with God in heaven forever Does anybody want to receive that today? Thank you. Gentlemen, standing up right there.

34:49 You preach a long time in life. Do 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. somebody 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 getting texts from their mom saying are you still alive i mean how could they get saved how could someone who's so far gone that they don't even answer their family how could they get saved because at some point he got over his past and realized 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.

36:31 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.