First the bad news. We stand condemned before God. Our condemnation goes way back to the guilt we share with Adam and Eve (Genesis 3), as well as to our own rebellion against God. We can do absolutely nothing to make ourselves right with God. We are all worthy of eternal separation from God.

Now here's the good news. It's obvious that we desperately need help, but what kind of savior will do? The Reformers saw that Christ alone was qualified to be our Savior.

Why is Jesus the only possible Savior of humankind? God's moral law requires perfect obedience and demands punishment for anything less. From his birth to his death, only Jesus was perfectly obedient to God's law. Only in him can new life be found.

Scripture testifies that Jesus, the only perfect one, bore the results of our rebellion. While we were still dead in our sin, God provided the perfect Savior, who alone can make us right with God.

If you've known this good news for a while, savor it anew. Let it wash over you each day and prompt acts of loving service to God and your neighbor.

If you've only been uneasily aware of the bad news but have not yet believed the good, may the Spirit of God move you to see and confess the name of the perfect Savior, Christ Jesus, today!