And this is the life that was revealed; we have seen it and testified to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life that was with the Father and was revealed to us.
Parallel translations
- WEB (and the life was revealed, and we have seen, and testify, and declare to you the life, the eternal life, which was with the Father, and was revealed to us);
- KJV (For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;)
- NKJV the life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us—
- NASB and the life was revealed, and we have seen and testify and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was revealed to us—
- NLT This one who is life itself was revealed to us, and we have seen him. And now we testify and proclaim to you that he is the one who is eternal life. He was with the Father, and then he was revealed to us.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The eternal life that was with the Father has been made visible in Jesus, and the apostles testify to it. Eternal life is a Person, not merely a possession.
Overview
John clarifies that 'the Word of life' is the eternal life itself, which existed in fellowship with the Father and was revealed in Christ. The apostolic role is to bear witness and proclaim what they saw. This anchors assurance: eternal life is found in the One who was manifested, Jesus Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 31
- 1 Jn 5:20And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true—in His Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.
- John 1:4In Him was life, and that life was the light of men.
- 1 Tim 3:16By common confession, the mystery of godliness is great: He appeared in the flesh, was vindicated by the Spirit, was seen by angels, was proclaimed among the nations, was believed in throughout the world, was taken up in glory.
- John 17:3Now this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom You have sent.
- Titus 1:2in the hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised before time began.
- John 14:6Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.
- 1 Jn 3:8The one who practices sin is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the very start. This is why the Son of God was revealed, to destroy the works of the devil.
- 1 Jn 3:5But you know that Christ appeared to take away sins, and in Him there is no sin.
- 1 Jn 5:11And this is that testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.
- Gal 4:4But when the time had fully come, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born under the law,
- 2 Tim 1:10And now He has revealed this grace through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has abolished death and illuminated the way to life and immortality through the gospel,
- John 15:27And you also must testify, because you have been with Me from the beginning.
- John 11:25–26Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in Me will live, even though he dies.
- Acts 3:15You killed the Author of life, but God raised Him from the dead, and we are witnesses of the fact.
- John 1:1–2In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
- John 3:13No one has ascended into heaven except the One who descended from heaven—the Son of Man.
- John 1:18No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is Himself God and is at the Father’s side, has made Him known.
- Acts 2:32God has raised this Jesus to life, to which we are all witnesses.
- John 17:5And now, Father, glorify Me in Your presence with the glory I had with You before the world existed.
- Rom 16:25–26Now to Him who is able to strengthen you by my gospel and by the proclamation of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery concealed for ages past
- Acts 10:41not by all the people, but by the witnesses God had chosen beforehand, by us who ate and drank with Him after He rose from the dead.
- John 8:38I speak of what I have seen in the presence of the Father, and you do what you have heard from your father.”
- John 7:29but I know Him, because I am from Him and He sent Me.”
- Rom 8:3For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful man, as an offering for sin. He thus condemned sin in the flesh,
- John 21:14This was now the third time that Jesus appeared to the disciples after He was raised from the dead.
- John 16:28I came from the Father and entered the world. In turn, I will leave the world and go to the Father.”
- 1 Pet 5:1As a fellow elder, a witness of Christ’s sufferings, and a partaker of the glory to be revealed, I appeal to the elders among you:
- Acts 1:22beginning from John’s baptism until the day Jesus was taken up from us. For one of these must become a witness with us of His resurrection.”
- Acts 5:32We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey Him.”
- 1 Jn 1:1That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our own eyes, which we have gazed upon and touched with our own hands—this is the Word of life.
- Prov 8:22–30The LORD created me as His first course, before His works of old.
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Christ at the center
Jesus is the Word of life made manifest, the propitiation for our sins, the Son in whom is eternal life — 'that you may know that you have eternal life.'
How 1 John 1:2 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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