The Greatest Gift

I am only a few pages into John Piper’s book God is the Gospel and already my mind is twisting and turning. A few years ago, I read His book Desiring God and he mentions that the best part of Heaven is that we get God. He says if you can picture Heaven full of blessings, streets of gold, reuniting with loved ones, etc. without Jesus, then you’ve missed the point. The whole point of Heaven is not where we get to spend eternity, or what we’ll receive, but WHO we spend it with.

The greatest gift of Heaven is the Giver.

We get God. Face to face. Every day. We will worship the One who created us, redeemed us, saved us, rescued us, loves us.

“The gospel of Christ proclaims the news that he has purchased by his death ten-thousand blessings for his bride. But none of these gifts will lead to final joy if they have not first led to God. And not one gospel blessing will be enjoyed by anyone for whom the gospel’s greatest gift was not the Lord himself.” ("God is the Gospel", John Piper)

My engagement to Santino was one of the greatest times of my life. Planning the wedding, picking the place for our ceremony, going to showers, getting gifts, planning the honeymoon, oh so much joy!


But, the best part of all of this was not just that I got new pots & pans, or the idea that I’ll get to see everyone I love and care about at the ceremony, or even the location of the honeymoon . . . Those were indeed great, but not the highlight of it all.

The best part was that I get to spend the rest of my life with my husband. Every day, being with him, talking with him, laughing with him, growing in my love for him. It was HIM that was the greatest part of the wedding. To know that I chose to spend the rest of my life on earth with the man who CHOSE me!!


So it is with God and eternity. He provides us with much here on earth and in Heaven. Blessing upon blessing. Gift after gift. Grace upon grace. But the greatest gift of all His gifts, the most gracious part of His grace, is Him. The Giver.

When planning our wedding, what I delighted in most was WHO I got to marry. The rest was additional blessing, but not the best part. So it is with the Gospel. The best part of God’s love is that we get to be in His presence, forever. We are reunited with our Heavenly Father, His grace is lavished upon us, and we get to spend eternity with the One who died so that we might live.

The greatest gift is to get to be with the Giver of every good and perfect gift. The One who bestows grace. The Father. The Son. The Spirit. The LORD our God.


“Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights . . .” (James 1:17)

“For of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace.” (John 1:16)