Colossians 1:15-23, NIV
Map: ..image of invisible God, the firstborn over all creation vs 15. For by him ALL things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible,…..created BY him and FOR him…in him all things are HOLD together (vs 16..17); ..firstborn from among the dead..vs 18. For God was pleased to have all his FULNESS dwell in him vs 19; reconciled to God through his blood, shed on the cross.
Colossians 1:15-23
[15]Christ is the visible likeness of the invisible God. He is the firstborn Son, superior to all created things.
[16]For through him God created everything in heaven and on earth, the seen and the unseen things, including spiritual powers, lords, rulers, and authorities. God created the whole universe through him and for him.
[17]Christ existed before all things, and in union with him all things have their proper place.
[18]He is the head of his body, the church; he is the source of the body’s life. He is the firstborn Son, who was raised from death, in order that he alone might have the first place in all things.
[19]For it was by God’s own decision that the Son has in himself the full nature of God.
[20]Through the Son, then, God decided to bring the whole universe back to himself. God made peace through his Son’s blood on the cross and so brought back to himself all things, both on earth and in heaven.
[21]At one time you were far away from God and were his enemies because of the evil things you did and thought.
[22]But now, by means of the physical death of his Son, God has made you his friends, in order to bring you, holy, pure, and faultless, into his presence.
[23]You must, of course, continue faithful on a firm and sure foundation, and must not allow yourselves to be shaken from the hope you gained when you heard the gospel. It is of this gospel that I, Paul, became a servant — this gospel which has been preached to everybody in the world.