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Chapter 1
The one who spoke when time began, the one who brought life into being,
we have heard, seen, touched and known as a living person. We want to
share with you the experiences we've had. The source of life within the
eternal being of God, we have known as a close companion and friend. We
want you to be our friends, so that, like us, you can be friends with
God and friends of Jesus, God's True Likeness. Listen to what we have to
tell you. We want to share our joy.
This is what we've learnt from our experience and would like to pass on
to you. God is pure light and has no dark features. If we say we're in
touch with God while all the time we're walking around with our eyes
shut, we're living a lie. But if we open our minds and share God's clear
view of everything, we can have honest relationships with one another.
Jesus clears away everything which blocks our path to God. If we think
there's nothing wrong with us, and that we've nothing to learn, we're
kidding ourselves. If we own up to our faults, God is fair and without
fail will accept us and show us the way to put things right. If we think
we're perfect, we're saying, in effect, that God is wrong, or that we
haven't been listening to God's voice inside us.
Chapter 2
My friends, you are in my care. I think of you as my children. I'm
writing this letter to stop you going wrong. But no matter how far wrong
any of us goes, our good friend Jesus will always stand up for us and
restore our relationship with the Loving God. Jesus gave his life for
others without any thought of self. What he did makes up for our badness
and promises a new and better world.
But do we really know Jesus? Here's a simple test. Are we doing what
Jesus asked of us? Anyone who says, "I know Jesus very well," but
doesn't do what Jesus wants, is a fraud. They're either trying to fool
you or they're fooling themselves. Whoever puts the words of Jesus into
practice will live a life based on love. This is the easiest way to
identify the true friends of Jesus. Anyone who says, "I'm a friend of
Jesus", should model their life on his.
(7) Dear friends, I'm not telling you to do anything you've not been
told before, right from the very beginning. It should all be familiar to
you. Perhaps now that you've had some experience I can shed new light on
it. Anyone who says, "I see it all- it's as clear as day", while hating
another human being, can't see a thing. They're still completely in the
dark! Those who love their fellow human beings are the ones who truly
understand .They can't go wrong. Anyone who hates somebody else has
blocked the light from their minds and has no idea of right or wrong.
(12) I hope you'll all read this letter, however young or old you are;
whether you have the responsibility of being parents or whether you're
young and full of energy. You've come to know God, the one who was
before time, as a loving parent; Jesus has made sure your wrong doings
are forgiven; your minds are free to receive what God has to say to you
and you're equipped to get the better of evil. [see footnote]
(15) Don't be like those who get hooked on the latest craze. Those
desperate to be 'with it' have no love for God. They're attracted by
things they can see and by things that money can buy. Fashions change
and what seems valuable today becomes worthless tomorrow. Those who live
God's way will never be 'out-of-date'.
(18) My own dear people, history is speeding towards a climax. Someone
may have told you that a great enemy of Jesus will appear on the world
stage. Judging by the number of enemies Jesus has already, it's not
going to be long. Some of Jesus's enemies used to be members of our
community, but they were not truly committed, otherwise they would have
stayed. They showed where their loyalties were by walking out on us! But
you have been touched by God's Spirit and she's given you a special
understanding of life. It's not my task to put you right because you're
on the right track already. You're capable of seeing the difference
between what's true and what's false.
(22) Those who say that Jesus is not God's Chosen are spreading a lie.
Those who don't believe that Jesus is the True Likeness of the Loving
God are out to do damage to his cause. If you have no regard for Jesus,
you have no regard for God, his Parent. Everyone who accepts who Jesus
is will be right about God too. Stick to what you were told when you
joined the community. Then you'll keep close to God and to God's True
Likeness. God has promised us life to the full.
(26) I'm sorry I've had to say so much about those who are out to
confuse you. I would sooner talk about you. I'm so pleased that God's
Spirit is still with you. As long as she's your guide, you don't need
anybody to put you right. She gives you fresh insights into everything
and her view of life can be trusted. Stay close to her.
Also, dear friends, stay close to Jesus, so that when we meet him there
won't be anything to feel nervous or ashamed about. If you've
experienced his goodness, you'll be able to recognize his true friends
by the way they display the same good qualities.
Chapter 3
God's love for us is amazing! God actually looks on us as sons and
daughters. People don't recognize the relationship because they don't
recognize God. Dear friends, 'children of God' is what we are at the
moment. We have no idea as yet about our future existence. We know that
when we meet Jesus face to face, we'll have the form of existence he has
now. That's how we'll be able to see him. Everyone who's looking forward
to that day wants to be at their best. Nothing less will do for him!
People who have no regard for others behave badly. They don't let
anything or anybody get in the way of what they want. Jesus came to do
away with such selfishness. He was completely unselfish. His friends
must be unselfish too. Selfish people cannot have been influenced by
him, or really got to know him. I'm anxious for you, dear friends. Don't
allow yourselves to be conned. Good people do what is good, just like
Jesus. Troublemakers are evil. There's no other word for them. Evil has
been around for a long time. 'God's Likeness' has been put on display
for this very purpose - to rid the world of evil. Members of God's
family don't cause harm. They bear the family likeness. So you can
always tell the members of God's family apart from those who do evil.
Those who don't love other people don't belong to God.
(11) This is what you were told the day you became members of our
community. We must love one another. Do you remember the story of Cain?
He's an example of how not to behave. He murdered his brother Abel. Why
did he do it? He was jealous because his brother was a better person
than he was! Don't be surprised, my friends, that bad people hate you.
We know we're living a new quality of life because we love one another.
There's nothing so deadly as having no love in your heart. Anyone who
hates someone else has the character of a murderer. Murderers destroy
life, including their own in the long-run. Jesus has shown what true
love is. He gave his life for us. We should give our lives for one
another. How can someone love the way God loves if they're well-off but
refuse to help someone in need?
(18) Friends, let's not just talk about love. Let's get on and do it.
Let's have the real thing! If our words are matched by deeds, we'll have
the confidence which comes from being genuine and won't be afraid for
God to look right into our hearts. If we feel we haven't kept up to the
mark, don't forget God has a better opinion of us than we have of
ourselves. That's because God can see everything, including our self-
doubt. So long as our hearts are in the right place, we can approach God
without fear. We'll get whatever we ask from God, because we're walking
in step with God, and what pleases God pleases us.
This is what we have to do to please God. We must trust that Jesus is
God's Chosen and God's True Likeness, and we must love one another, as
Jesus told us. Then we're his friends and have his company all the time.
That's the same as saying we have God's Spirit, the gift Jesus gave us.
Chapter 4
Dear friends, don't accept every religious idea put before you. Think
carefully whether it comes from God or not. Lots of people who claim to
be God's speakers are nothing of the kind. This is how you know God's
Spirit is speaking. If someone describes Jesus as being the most human
of all humans as well as being God's Chosen, that is God's truth. Those
who describe Jesus as if he were not a real person, don't speak on
behalf of God. You've been warned to look out for trouble-makers. Well,
they've arrived! Full marks, my own dear people, for dealing with them
so effectively, proving you belong to God's family. Since Jesus has
become part of your thinking and feeling, you speak with more
understanding than those who pander to popular prejudices. Because they
say what people want to hear, people listen to them. We're God's people.
Those who are used to listening for the true voice of God, recognize
God's voice when we speak. They help to assure us that we are saying the
right things.
(7) Dear friends, let's love one another, because love is a present from
God. Everyone who loves shares a family likeness with God and has a
relationship with God. Anyone who doesn't love, doesn't have a
relationship with God, because GOD IS LOVE. We've seen God's love in
action. We know what God is like, because we've been shown God's
character in the form of a human person. God wants us to have life to
the full by means of Jesus. It's a great love story. We didn't fall in
love with God. God fell in love with us. God sent Jesus to get rid of
everything that comes between us and God. Dear friends, since God has
shown us so much love, the least we can do is to love one another.
No-one has ever penetrated the mystery of God's being. But if we love
one another, God is part of us. God's loving nature can be seen in our
loving. Then there is the Spirit. She too is a present to convince us
we're God's friends.
(14) We were present to witness the great event. The Loving God sent a
true likeness to save the world from its misery. God's friends are those
who pass on the news. We trust God's love because we've experienced it
first hand. GOD IS LOVE, and those who love are God's friends, and God
is their friend. Love has become the basis of our lives. Sharing God's
loving feelings for the world gives us confidence to face whatever the
future may bring. There is nothing to fear in love. Lovers overcome
their shyness and nerves. Fear has to do with feelings of guilt. You
don't really love until all those feelings have gone. We love because
God loved us first. Those who say, "I love God" ,while hating other
people, are liars. If they don't love someone they've seen, how can they
love God, the one they've never seen? God has a made quite clear what is
expected of us. Those who love God, must love all members of the human
family.
Chapter 5
Those who believe that Jesus is God’s Chosen are members of God’s
family. They each love the other members of the family for the sake of
God, the parent they have in common. This love binds us together and
inspires us to do what God wants. That’s how we show our love for God.
God doesn’t ask us to do what’s too hard for us. As members of God’s
family we can cope with whatever comes our way. Our confidence in God
sees us through. We’ll conquer the world with our belief that Jesus is
God’s Chosen!
(6) Jesus was a real human being. His body was made of the same elements
as ours. He breathed the same air we breathe. He bled like us, he passed
water like us, his lungs worked just like ours- that’s enough proof!
Those who knew Jesus well will verify this. God also stands witness to
the human form of The True Likeness. Those who accept Jesus as God’s
True Likeness are quite sure about it. Those who have other ideas make
God out to be a liar. They don’t accept God’s evidence! What’s God’s
evidence? God’s present of life to the full, which we have by means of
Jesus. Those who have Jesus for a friend know what it is to be alive in
every sense of the word. It’s those who don’t know Jesus who aren’t
really alive.
You already believe that Jesus is God’s True Likeness. I’m writing this
letter to make sure you have life to the full.
Our relationship with Jesus gives us such confidence! When we have his
mind we can ask him to help us. We know he hears us. What we’ve asked
from him is already on the way.
(16) If you notice one of your Christian community doing something
wrong, nothing too serious, ask for God’s help and God will bring that
person back to a healthy life again. Sometimes people go so far wrong,
there’s nothing can be done. It may be better for you not to waste your
energies.
Members of God’s family don’t make wrongdoing the pattern of their
lives. The presence of Jesus prevents that from happening. They can
resist the power of evil. We know we belong to God, though evil is rife
in the world today. God’s True Likeness has come among us and opened our
minds. He’s shown us what God is really like. Now we have a good
relationship with God and with Jesus, God’s Chosen. We know what God is
like and we know what it means to live.
My very dear friends, I care so much for you. Don’t allow anything or
anybody to take the place of God in your lives.
Footnote (2;
12-14) The verses in the Greek are a sort of poem in prose, the effect
of which is very difficult to convey in translation without being wordy
and tedious. Our solution is to provide a précis.
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