Jesus began his ministry with a call to repent. As we learn more about God, we begin to see our need for a rescue from this condition of death. God did send rescue, but only when we see Him, and not ourselves, in the midst of our pain. Seeing our failures should give us a reason to stop and search for something better...a light out of the darkness. Every sin emphasizes our own incompleteness and indeed, our own mortality. This recognition, however, should ultimately not lead us to despair, but to joy. And that joy is found in a new life of forgiveness through Jesus Christ.