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A Blessing
[Colossians 1:9-29 (TEV)]
"For this reason we have always prayed for you, ever since we heard about
you. We ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will, with all the
wisdom and understanding that his Spirit gives. Then you will be able to
live as the Lord wants and will always do what pleases him. Your lives
will produce all kinds of good deeds, and you will grow in the knowledge of
God. May you be made strong with all the strength which comes from his
glorious power, so that you may be able to endure everything with
patience. And with joy give thanks to the Father, who has made you fit to
have your share of what God has reserved for his people in the kingdom of
light. He rescued us from the power of darkness and brought us safe into
the kingdom of his dear Son, by whom we are set free, that is, our sins are
forgiven.
"Christ is the visible likeness of the invisible God. He is
the first-born Son, superior to all created things. For through him
God created everything in heaven and on earth, the seen and unseen things,
including spiritual powers, lords, rulers and authorities. God created the
whole universe through him and for him. Christ existed before all things, and in
union with him all things have their proper place. He is the head of his body,
the church; he is the source of the body's life. He is the first-born Son,
who was raised from death, in order that he alone might have the first place in
all things. For it was by God's own decision that the Son has in himself
the full nature of God. Through the Son, then, God decided to bring the
whole universe back to himself. God made peace through his Son's blood on
the cross, and so brought back to himself all things, both on earth and in
heaven.
"At one time you were far away from God and were his
enemies because of the evil things you did and thought. But now, by means
of the physical death of his Son, God has made you his friends, in order to
bring you, holy, pure and faultless, into his presence. You must, of course,
continue faithful on a firm and sure foundation, and must not allow yourselves
to be shaken from the hope you gained when you heard the gospel. It is of this
gospel that I, Paul, became a servant -- this gospel which has been preached to
everybody in the world.
"And now I am happy about my sufferings for you, for by means of my physical
sufferings I am helping to complete what still remains of Christ's sufferings on
behalf of his body, the church. And I have been a servant of the church of
God, who gave me this task to perform for your good. It is the task of
fully proclaiming his message, which is the secret he hid through all past ages
from all human beings but has now revealed to his people. God's plan it to
make known his secret to his people, this rich and glorious secret which he has
for all peoples. And the secret is that Christ is in you, which means that
you will share in the glory of God.
"So we preach Christ to everyone. With all possible
wisdom we warn and teach them in order to bring each one into God's presence as
a mature individual in union with Christ. To get this done I toil and
struggle, using the mighty strength which Christ supplies and which is at work
in me."
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