None of us can live in this world and rejoice in the light of the sun without also experiencing the goodness of God (Luke 6:35; Matthew 5:44-45). God created us out of love, formed us in the womb out of his goodness (Psalms 139:13-16).

If we are honest, we must admit that our lives are not perfect, we are all sinners because we have sinned. However, in the presence of the perfect God, there can only be perfect goodness, love and holiness: these are his expectations (Matthew 5:43-48; James 1:4; 2 Timothy 3:17). God does not need us, but we do need him: his love, goodness, grace and forgiveness. The book of Psalms says:

The LORD is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. The LORD is good to all, and his mercy is over all that he has made. (Psalms 145:8-9)

Only God is worthy of worship and respect by virtue of his being. We must glorify him for himself and for all that he has done for us, showing us the deepest meaning of his being, love. John writes:

In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. (1 John 4:9-10)

Sin is a reality that separates us from God (Isaiah 59:1-2) and leads to death in the absence of repentance (2 Corinthians 7:10). However, God's goodness can lead to repentance, produced by godly grief. Paul writes:

Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? (Romans 2:4)

No one can redeem himself. As a testimony of God's eternal love, Jesus Christ appeared to redeem us. The coming of Jesus into this world was the greatest act of God's goodness, and this goodness appeared in Jesus Christ. Paul writes:

But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. (Titus 3:4-7)

All evil is far from God, since his essence is goodness (1 John 1:5). He certainly does not wish the death of any human including Jesus (Ezekiel 18:23, 33:10-11. 18-20). He wants to invite everyone to a relationship of love with him, so that they may live forever. Eternal death is the choice of man, which is the consequence of his freely chosen sin (John 8:24). People also crucified Jesus based on their own decision. Although God allowed this (Hebrews 2:9), but in such a way as to fulfill his eternal purpose. Because God sent the Son into the world so that we might have life (John 3:16-17, 10:10) and that everyone might recognize the Savior. However, the majority did not believe him...

The crime of killing Jesus was the result of the harsh resistance of the Jews, especially the Jewish religious leaders, against the work of the Holy Spirit (Acts 7:51-53). They rejected God's strong call to repentance in the person of Jesus. They did not recognize him (Acts 13:27; 1 John 3:1) and did not receive him (John 1:10-11). They acted against God's will. However, the evil deed they made by their decision did not thwart the divine intention of man's redemption, because Jesus was also willing to die for all people. He did not seek his own recognition, acceptance or appreciation, like a strong-handed ruler, who uses his power to get out of every situation with confidence, and expects as much glory and exaltation from people as possible. Jesus came from God to us in the likeness of sinful flesh (Romans 8:3), as a fallible and weak man, despised by the world, abandoned by men (even by his own disciples: Mark 14:50; John 16:32) he was not esteemed. The one who, with a determined will, not only consciously faced death accompanied by suffering, but also accepted it with gratitude as a humble servant free from all sin. By not resisting the hatred of wicked men (James 5:6), but accepting a violent death for all, he won the ultimate victory over the world. Because this is how Jesus defeated evil, and not like a strong king surrounded by glory. He did not rely on his own strength, but trusted in God, who was always in control of his whole life, because he loved the Father (John 14:31). That is why God never forsook him, even in his death he was especially in communion with him (Colossians 1:19-20, 2:9), because Jesus did not return evil for evil even in the midst of suffering (1 Peter 2:23), but on the contrary, he finished it this way through his death on the cross what no one guessed at the time: he opened a free way to the Father of our souls (Ephesians 3:12).

The cross is the secret of salvation, where, despite the world's contempt of Jesus, God shows his eternal goodness beyond everything and his self-giving infinite love to the world in his only begotten Son. Paul writes:

but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8)

Jesus gave himself, his life, for us, died, and then rose again, so that through his complete and perfect devotion, he could truly set us free for devoted love for our brothers and sisters. John writes:

By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. (1 John 3:16)
For Jesus said: “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:34-35)

God gave us the most, himself. We can live by his life (1 John 4:9). We are lost if we are not reconciled to him (1 Corinthians 1:18; 2 Corinthians 4:3; 2 Thessalonians 2:9-10). Any thought that does not lead to a relationship with God is a false path. The only way we can be reconciled with God is if we believe in Jesus and do not follow false goals: we trust ourselves, our abilities, our senses, our own strength, some idea, security provided by people, earthly possessions, money... We cannot get to God even if we stick to our human idea of ​​him. Moreover, today we can easily deceive ourselves with the increasingly widespread false doctrines called Christian teachings.

Thanks to God's benevolent care, the Bible has survived to this day as an authentic and exclusive written source of faith in Jesus and as the only sure foundation of Christian teaching. God's teaching is the truth itself, which stands above us, and if we love him, we freely submit ourselves to it. The person and teaching of Jesus Christ can be known with the help of the holy scriptures, but only thanks to the revelation of the Holy Spirit. However, God's Word, which gives us life (John 6:63), can be a reality in our lives also today, so God makes us one with himself so that the world can recognize Jesus through us, who prayed like this:

I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me. (John 17:20-23)

God's goodness teaches us to trust ourselves completely to everything Jesus says without any conditions. We need him, that we can learn from him, because without him we are lost and dead. Without him, our life becomes empty and loses its real deep meaning, because the identity and value of every person is determined by what or who they love the most:

Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.” (John 14:23)

What a great gift it is that by accepting Jesus, God's entire being takes up residence in man (John 14:17. 20. 23), because no one can have a life born from above if God does not bend down to him. Because he wants to be in a relationship with his children forever, he leans close to us every day of our earthly existence and feeds us with his goodness. The book of Psalms says:

Oh, how abundant is your goodness, which you have stored up for those who fear you and worked for those who take refuge in you, in the sight of the children of mankind! (Psalms 31:19)

God's goodness and grace can be especially shown in some trying situations when he is rather very close to us. Because of his good nature, he faithfully protects us from evil if we do good and avoid evil out of love for him. 

God's goodness and grace can become particularly evident in some difficult situations when he is very close to us. Because of his good nature, he faithfully protects us from evil if we do good and avoid evil out of love for him. 

Through his Spirit, he always warns us against sin, but if we become unfaithful, because we do not fight persistently against sin, then we can lose the most expensive treasure (even more valuable than our life!). Although God's faithfulness is infinite (2 Timothy 2:11-13), he does not take sin lightly, so his goodness is closely related to his severity. Paul writes:

Note then the kindness and the severity of God: severity toward those who have fallen, but God’s kindness to you, provided you continue in his kindness. Otherwise you too will be cut off. (Romans 11:22)

The Lord fills his followers with the power of the Holy Spirit, so that they themselves are genuinely good, capable of all good deeds (Ephesians 4:32). God in Jesus not only forgives, but renews and transforms us day by day (Colossians 3:10), if we turn to him. God knows all our weaknesses. He knows what he can expect from us, because he gives us all the help we need to take every step to become like his Son (1 John 3:2; Romans 8:29). The supernatural power of his goodness continually miraculously transforms the redeemed sinner into the image of his only begotten Son. Because in Jesus, God's goodness towards the followers of the Lord's way is shown overflowing, so that no one can boast. Paul writes:

But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ — by grace you have been saved — and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. (Ephesians 2:4-10)

God keeps us by his grace. No one can have life if he does not forgive out of his great goodness in Christ Jesus. He does not deal with us according to our sins (Psalms 103:8-14), therefore, because we know his great mercy and goodness, we proclaim him free from our sins, because we know that

The LORD is righteous in all his ways and kind in all his works. (Psalms 145:17)

THIS IS WHY WE CALL YOU TOO: LET'S FOLLOW JESUS!