defining words

Here's another defining statement by Paul about who Jesus is,

written to the followers of Jesus who lived in the city of Colosse.

Colossians 1

15 Christ is the visible image of the invisible God.

  He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation,

16 for through him God created everything
  

in the heavenly realms and on earth.

He made the things we can see

and the things we can't see—

such as thrones,

kingdoms,

rulers,

and authorities in the unseen world.

Everything was created through him

and for him.

17 He existed before anything else,

and he holds all creation together.

18 Christ is also the head of the church,

which is his body.

He is the beginning,

supreme over all who rise from the dead.

So he is first in everything.

19 For God in all his fullness was pleased to live in Christ,

20 and through him God reconciled everything to himself.

He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth

by means of Christ's blood on the cross.

  21 This includes you who were once far away from God.

You were his enemies,

separated from him by your evil thoughts

and actions.

22 Yet now he has reconciled you to himself

through the death of Christ in his physical body.

As a result, he has brought you into his own presence,

and you are holy and blameless

as you stand before him without a single fault.