1 John 1:1-2

That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life— the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us—

(v1-2, ESV)

In the ESV, verse 2 is surrounded by '-'. Verse 2 is referring to the word of life. It was made manifest. The way in which this happened was through Jesus Christ. John continues to describe ways in which him and his audience have interacted with it. These are all believers who have actually seen, heard and touched Jesus while he walked the earth. This order of these are significant because these occur for genuine believers. Those who have truly received the word of life have experienced it. Not only have they experienced it, but they attest to it. Having attested to it, they tell others, spreading the good news. This is the pattern of the true followers of Jesus Christ.

The word of life is what gives eternal life. We are living this life we have been given. However, this life isn't forever. Eventually we will die. You can't cheat death, it's coming sooner or later. However, eternal life can be grated to us through the Lord Jesus Christ. This eternal life is offered to use through the word of life.

It's interesting how this verse begins and ends with "manifest". John begins this verse by saying that the word of life was made manifest. Also, the verse ends by saying that it was with the Father and was made manifest to us. It was shown and revealed to us. It's not something we found or something we uncovered. We didn't invent or create it. This was revealed to us, and not of our own doing. Revealing doesn't occur from and to the same object. You can't say that you revealed something to yourself. Well, you can, but it's rare and doesn't make much sense. The revealing happens from one thing to something else. I, Chris, may reveal some secret to my friend, John. John didn't find it on his own, nor did he do anything on his part in order for it to be revealed to him. I did the revealing so that it would be made known to him. In the same way, the word of life was made manifest to us. It was placed in front of us for us to see and revealed to us.