Christ is the visible likeness of the invisible God. He is the first-born Son, superior to all created things.

"The LORD created me first of all, the first of his works, long ago.

I was made in the very beginning, at the first, before the world began.

"I alone am the LORD, the only one who can save you.

I am God and always will be. No one can escape from my power; no one can change what I do."

The LORD, who rules and protects Israel, the LORD Almighty, has this to say: "I am the first, the last, the only God; there is no other god but me.

The LORD says, "Bethlehem Ephrathah, you are one of the smallest towns in Judah, but out of you I will bring a ruler for Israel, whose family line goes back to ancient times."

In the beginning the Word already existed; the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

Through him God made all things; not one thing in all creation was made without him.

"I am telling you the truth," Jesus replied. "Before Abraham was born, 'I Am'."

Father! Give me glory in your presence now, the same glory I had with you before the world was made.

yet there is for us only one God, the Father, who is the Creator of all things and for whom we live; and there is only one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things were created and through whom we live.

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

"I am the first and the last," says the Lord God Almighty, who is, who was, and who is to come.

It said, "Write down what you see, and send the book to the churches in these seven cities: Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea."

When I saw him, I fell down at his feet like a dead man. He placed his right hand on me and said, "Don't be afraid! I am the first and the last.

"To the angel of the church in Smyrna write: "This is the message from the one who is the first and the last, who died and lived again.

He lifts the poor from the dust and raises the needy from their misery. He makes them companions of princes and puts them in places of honor. The foundations of the earth belong to the LORD; on them he has built the world.

Though every living creature tremble and the earth itself be shaken, I will keep its foundations firm.

Jesus answered them, "My Father is always working, and I too must work."

This saying made the Jewish authorities all the more determined to kill him; not only had he broken the Sabbath law, but he had said that God was his own Father and in this way had made himself equal with God.

as someone has said, 'In him we live and move and exist.' It is as some of your poets have said, 'We too are his children.'

He reflects the brightness of God's glory and is the exact likeness of God's own being, sustaining the universe with his powerful word. After achieving forgiveness for the sins of all human beings, he sat down in heaven at the right side of God, the Supreme Power.