500 years ago a sinner was born:

A sinner who grew up to be one of the most influential people in the Western church and the whole Western world,
A sinner who has been slanderously villainized in the years since his death for his love of God’s freedom,
A sinner who has been justly villainized for his role in the execution of Michael Servetus,
A sinner who bled sola scriptura, preaching an average of 5 unique exegetical, non-topical sermons a week,
A sinner who we either love to love, wearing his name like a badge, or love to hate, treating his name like a four letter word,
A sinner in the hands of a sovereign God,
who championed God’s effectual grace to save wretches like himself.

A sinner who gave us a glorious, consuming, life changing, eye opening, sin mortifying, heart renewing, freeing, preserving vision of a Jesus who commands what he wills and wills what he commands.

A sinner who we remember only for the person he pointed us to.

John [Calvin] was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light.  Let that be who we remember on this 500th anniversary of Calvin’s birth.