¹¹ Then God will strengthen you with his own great power. And you will not give up when troubles come, but you will be patient. ¹² Then you will joyfully give thanks to the Father. He has made you^[a] able to have all that he has prepared for his people who live in the light. ¹³ God made us free from the power of darkness, and he brought us into the kingdom of his dear Son. ¹⁴ The Son paid for our sins,^[b] and in him we have forgiveness.

The Importance of Christ

¹⁵ No one has seen God, but Jesus is exactly like him. Christ ranks higher than all the things that have been made. ¹⁶ Through his power all things were made—things in heaven and on earth, things seen and unseen, all powers, authorities, lords, and rulers. All things were made through Christ and for Christ. ¹⁷ Christ was there before anything was made. And all things continue because of him. ¹⁸ He is the head of the body. (The body is the church.) Everything comes from him. And he is the first one who was raised from death. So in all things Jesus is most important. ¹⁹ God was pleased for all of himself to live in Christ. ²⁰ And through Christ, God decided to bring all things back to himself again—things on earth and things in heaven. God made peace by using the blood of Christ’s death on the cross.