Colossians 1:15-23

Amplified Bible

¹⁵He is the exact living image [the essential manifestation] of the unseen God [the visible representation of the invisible], the firstborn [the preeminent one, the sovereign, and the originator] of all creation. ¹⁶For ^[a]by Him all things were created in heaven and on earth, [things] visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities; all things were created and exist through Him [that is, by His activity] and for Him. ¹⁷And He Himself existed and is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. [His is the controlling, cohesive force of the universe.]^(A) ¹⁸He is also the head [the life-source and leader] of the body, the ^[b]church; and He is the beginning, ^[c]the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will occupy the first place [He will stand supreme and be preeminent] in everything.^(B) ¹⁹For it pleased the Father for all the fullness [of deity—the sum total of His essence, all His perfection, powers, and attributes] to dwell [permanently] in Him (the Son), ²⁰and through [the intervention of] the Son to reconcile all things to Himself, making peace [with believers] through the blood of His cross; through Him, [I say,] whether things on earth or things in heaven.

²¹And although you were at one time estranged and alienated and hostile-minded [toward Him], participating in evil things, ²²yet Christ has now reconciled you [to God] in His ^[d]physical body through death, in order to present you before the Father holy and blameless and beyond reproach— ²³[and He will do this] if you continue in the faith, well-grounded and steadfast, and not shifting away from the [confident] hope [that is a result] of the gospel that you have heard, which was proclaimed ^[e]in all creation under heaven, and of which [gospel] I, Paul, was made a minister.

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Footnotes

Colossians 1:16 Or in.
Colossians 1:18 This refers to the entire body of born-again believers (whether past, present, or future), not a local congregation.
Colossians 1:18 Christ is the first to be resurrected with an incorruptible, immortal body. Others who were raised had to die again.
Colossians 1:22 Lit body of flesh.
Colossians 1:23 Paul may be referring to the fact that the created world displays proof of the existence of an omnipotent, benevolent God (cf Rom 1:20), without whom there would be no possibility of salvation. Such a God is the foundation of the “good news.”