12. and give thanks to the Father. He has made you able to have what he has promised to give all his holy 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 the price to make us free. In him we have forgiveness of our sins.
15. No one can see God, but the Son is exactly like God. He rules over everything that has been made.
16. Through his power all things were made: things in heaven and on earth, seen and not seen— all spiritual rulers, lords, powers, and authorities. Everything was made through him and for him.
17. The Son was there before anything was made. And all things continue because of him.
18. He is the head of the body, which is the church. He is the beginning of everything else. And he is the first among all who will be raised from death. So in everything he is most important.
19. God was pleased for all of himself to live in the Son.
20. And through him, God was happy to bring all things back to himself again— things on earth and things in heaven. God made peace by using the blood sacrifice of his Son on the cross.
21. At one time you were separated from God. You were his enemies in your minds, because the evil you did was against him.
22. But now he has made you his friends again. He did this by the death Christ suffered while he was in his body. He did it so that he could present you to himself as people who are holy, blameless, and without anything that would make you guilty before him.