The Greek noun angelia (ἀγγελία) means a message or announcement — the content that is delivered by a messenger (angelos, G32). It appears twice in the New Testament, both times in 1 John, where it refers specifically to the message proclaimed by Christ and passed on through the apostolic testimony.
The word is simple in form but weighty in content: it is the message — the thing that has been heard, received, and must be passed on. In 1 John, the content of this message is nothing less than the fundamental character of God Himself.
John uses angelia to introduce two of the most foundational theological declarations in the New Testament: "God is light" (1 John 1:5) and implicitly "God is love" (1 John 4:8). These are not philosophical propositions but proclamations — angelia, messages delivered from the divine realm to humanity through the incarnate Christ and His witnesses.
The word highlights the nature of the Christian faith as a received and transmitted message. We did not discover this truth through philosophical inquiry; it was announced to us. The Greek word angelia shares its root with eu-angelion (G2098, Gospel — "good message/announcement"). The Gospel is the ultimate angelia: the good news of what God has done in Christ, announced to a world that could not have figured it out on its own.