BIG statement

Paul is writing here to the followers of Jesus in Colossae.

This section from the very first chapter is a typical BIG statement of Paul's about Jesus & who He is.



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.