001:019 For it was the Father's gracious will that the whole of the divine perfections should dwell in Him. 001:020 And God purposed through Him to reconcile the universe to Himself, making peace through His blood, which was shed upon the Cross-- to reconcile to Himself through Him, I say, things on earth and things in Heaven. 001:021 And you, estranged as you once were and even hostile in your minds, amidst your evil deeds, 001:022 He has now, in His human body, reconciled to God by His death, to bring you, holy and faultless and irreproachable, into His presence; 001:023 if, indeed, you are still firmly holding to faith as your foundation, without ever shifting from your hope that rests on the Good News that you have heard, which has been proclaimed in the whole creation under Heaven, and in which I Paul have been appointed to serve. 001:024 Now I can find joy amid my sufferings for you, and I fill up in my own person whatever is lacking in Christ's afflictions on behalf of His Body, the Church. 001:025 I have been appointed to serve the Church in the position of responsibility entrusted to me by God for your benefit, so that I may fully deliver God's Message-- 001:026 the truth which has been kept secret from all ages and generations, but has now been revealed to His people, 001:027 to whom it was His will to make known how vast a wealth of glory for the Gentile world is implied in this truth-- the truth that `Christ is in you, the hope of glory.' 001:028 Him we preach, admonishing every one and instructing every one, with all possible wisdom, so that we may bring every one into God's presence, made perfect through Christ. 001:029 To this end, like an earnest wrestler, I exert all my strength in reliance upon the power of Him who is mightily at work within me. 002:001 For I would have you know in how severe a struggle I am engaged on behalf of you and the brethren in Laodicea and of all who have not known me personally, 002:002 in order that their hearts may be cheered, they themselves being welded together in love and enjoying all the advantages of a reasonable certainty, till at last they attain the full knowledge of God's truth, which is Christ Himself. 002:003 In Him all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are stored up, hidden from view. 002:004 I say this to prevent your being misled by any one's plausible sophistry. 002:005 For although, as you say, I am absent from you in body, yet in spirit I am present with you and am delighted to witness your good discipline and the solid front presented by your faith in Christ. 002:006 As therefore you have received the Christ, even Jesus our Lord, live and act in vital union with Him;