That which was from the beginning,
that which we have heard,
that which we have seen with our eyes,
that which we saw, and our hands touched,
concerning the Word of Life—
2The 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.
3That which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us. Yes, and our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son1, ‘ISA2 AL-MASIH3. 4And we write these things to you, that our joy may be fulfilled.
5This is the message which we have heard from him and announce to you, that God4 is light, and in him is no darkness at all. 6If we say that we have fellowship with him and walk in the darkness, we lie, and do not practice the truth. 7But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of ‘ISA AL-MASIH, his Son, cleanses us from all sin.
8If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his Word is not in us.
- 1:3 SON, a title of the Messiah, ‘ISA AL-MASIH, revealed through Prophet Dawud in the Zabur 2:7-9, which says: I will tell of the decree. YAHWEH said to me, “You are my SON. Today I have become your FATHER. Ask of me, and I will give the nations for your inheritance, The ends of the earth for your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron. You shall dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.” ↩︎
- 1:3 ‘ISA – The names ‘ISA (Arabic), ISHO (Syriac) and JESUS (Greek, IESOUS) are all derived from the Hebrew name YEHOSHUA, which means “YAHWEH saves.” (YAHWEH is God’s personal name revealed to Prophet Musa in the Taurat, Exodus 3:15 – God said moreover to Musa, “You shall tell Bani-Israel this, ‘YAHWEH, the God of your fathers, the God of Ibrahim, the God of Ishaq, and the God of Yaqub, has sent me to you.’ This is my Name forever, and this is how I am to be remembered to all generations.”) ↩︎
- 1:3 AL-MASIH – an Arabic title equivalent to the Messiah (Hebrew) or Christ (Greek), all of which mean the Anointed One, that is, God’s Chosen One. In ancient times, divinely-appointed kings, priests and prophets were anointed with oil to signify their appointment to office. All of them point ahead to God’s ultimate Anointed One, the Messiah, AL-MASIH. Al-Kitab unanimously points to ‘ISA Ibn Maryam as the only person worthy to bear the title AL-MASIH. He is the one whom God sent into this world to save people from sin, and to usher in God’s Kingdom at his Second Coming. ↩︎
- 1:5 God, English translation of theos. It is the Greek equivalent of elohim and eloah (Hebrew) which are related to allah (Arabic) and alaha (Syriac), all of which translate as “God,” and refer to the one true God. ↩︎