Jesus Is Better than This World

This song was borne out of the author’s delight (and struggle to delight!) in what the entailments of the gospel of Jesus mean in our daily life. The accomplishment of Redemption is a real event – a complete change in identity and status – that has tangible effects now, not just in the future. A Christian is someone who has a relationship with God in and through Jesus, and this song attempts to capture what that relationship looks like, and what its benefits are.

I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord

Philippians 3:8 (ESV)

Because the treasure of knowing Jesus transcends this world, it is far deeper and more lasting than anything or anyone else we might value. This is the true key to finding deep, abiding, and life-changing joy in God: letting go of competing loves and finding more and more satisfaction and rest in Jesus – in all that he has done for us, all that he has given us, and all that He is for us.

The song started as a simple list of identities that are transformed by Jesus. Straight out of the notes:

• The slave finds redemption
• The criminal set free
• The unholy/profane renovated
• The outcast welcomed home
• The warrior
• The traitor is loved
• The debtor
• The striver
• The doer
• The faithful
• The righteous … pious
• The haughty
• The selfish

Lyrics