
The
Incomparable Christ Colossians
1:13-29 NASB
13 For He rescued us from the domain of darkness,
and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, 14 in whom we
have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
15 He is the
image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation: 16 for by
Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth,
visible and invisible, whether thrones, or dominions, or rulers, or
authorities-all things have been created through Him and for Him. 17
He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. 18 He
is also the head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning,
the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have
first place in everything. 19 For it was the Father’s good
pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him, 20 and through Him to
reconcile all things to Himself, whether things on earth or things
in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross.
21
And although you were previously alienated and hostile in attitude,
engaged in evil deeds, 22 yet He has now reconciled you in His body
of flesh through death, in order to present you before Him holy and
blameless and beyond reproach- 23 if indeed you continue in the
faith firmly established and steadfast, and not shifting from the
hope of the gospel that you have heard, which was proclaimed in all
creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, was made a
minister.
24 Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your
sake, and in my flesh I am supplementing what is lacking in Christ’s
afflictions in behalf of His body, which is the church. 25 I was
made a minister of this church according to the commission from God
granted to me for your benefit, so that I might fully carry out the
preaching of the word of God, 26 that is, the mystery which had been
hidden from the past ages and generations, but now has been revealed
to His saints, 27 to whom God willed to make known what the wealth
of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles is, the mystery that
is Christ in you, the hope of glory. 28 We proclaim Him, admonishing
every person and teaching every person with all wisdom, so that we
may present every person complete in Christ. 29 For this purpose I
also labor, striving according to His power which works mightily
within me.
By Dan Maines
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