from the beginning
1 John 2:7
2:7 from the beginning. Note I John 3:11. The commandment to love one another is not a new revelation, for Jesus had repeatedly taught this in His earthly ministry. The “beginning” referred to is not only the beginning of the world, although the primeval union of Adam and Eve presupposed marital love as the foundation of God’s initial command to “multiply” (Genesis 1:28), nor the beginning of Israel, though the commandment to love one’s neighbor was foundational in the Mosaic law (Romans 13:8-10), but especially the beginning of Christianity, based on the sacrificial example of love by the Lord Jesus Himself (John 15:12-14).