3 He manifests God’s glory. He exactly represents what God is like. He ◄sustains everything by means of his powerful words. When he had enabled people to be freed from the guilt of their sins [MET], he sat down in heaven [EUP] to rule at the place of greatest honor [MTY] with God [MTY].

4 By doing that, he showed that he was very much greater than the angels, to the extent that his relationship [MTY] to God, as his Son, is more excellent than the relationship the angels have to God.

14 The one who expresses [MET] ◄God’s character/what God is like► became a human being, and he lived among us for a while. As a result, we saw how wonderful he is. He came from God his father, and there was no other person as wonderful as he. He was wonderful because he always acted ◄kindly toward us/in ways we did not deserve►, and he always spoke truthfully to us about God.

18 No one has ever seen God. But God’s only Son, Jesus, who has always had a very close relationship with God, has told us about God.

17 Then Jesus replied to them, "My Father has always been working every day, including ◄the Sabbath/the day of rest►, up until now. I am doing the same thing!" 18 The Jewish leaders [SYN] considered that he was disobeying their rules about ◄the Sabbath/the day of rest►, and that by saying that God was his Father, he was making himself equal with God. And they considered that both these things were grounds for killing him. So they tried even harder to find a way to kill him.

13 When Jesus came with us disciples to the region near Caesarea Philippi town, he asked us, "Who do people say that I, the one who came from heaven, really am?" 14 We answered, "Some people say that you are John the Baptizer, who has come back to life again. Others say that you are the prophet Elijah, who has returned from heaven as God promised. Still others say that you are the prophet Jeremiah or one of the other prophets who lived long ago, who has come back to life again." 15 Jesus said to us, "What about you? Who do you say that I am?" 16 Simon Peter said to him, "You are the Messiah! You are the Son of the all-powerful God."

16 After he was baptized {John baptized Jesus}, Jesus immediately came up out of the water. Just then, it was as though the sky was opened {split apart}. Then Jesus saw God’s Spirit coming down upon him. He came in the form of a dove. 17 Then God [SYN] spoke from heaven, saying, "This is my Son. I love him. I am very pleased with him."

15 So those who affirm/say that Jesus is the ◄Son of/one who is also► God, God is within them, and they have a close relationship with God.

9 I will tell you how God has shown us that he loves us: He sent ◄his only Son/the only one who was also God► to live on the earth to enable us to live eternally as a result of our trusting in what he accomplished for us by dying for us. 10 And God has shown us what it means to love another person: It does not mean that we loved God, but it means that God loved us and sent ◄his Son/the one who was also God► to sacrifice his life in order that our sins might be forgiven {he might forgive our sins}.

8 But if anyone continues sinning, he is like the devil, because the devil has always been sinning. And the reason why God’s Son became a human being was to destroy what the devil has done.

12 Those who have a close relationship with God’s Son (OR, who have accepted what God’s Son has done for them) have already begun to live forever. But those who do not have a relationship with ◄God’s Son/the one who is also God► (OR, who have not accepted what God’s Son has done for them) have not begun to live forever.

16 God loved us people [MTY] in the world so much that he gave his only Son as a sacrifice for us, in order that everyone who believes in him would not be separated from God forever. Instead, they would have eternal life.

21 For example, just like my Father causes people who have died to become alive again, I will give eternal life to everyone that I want to. 22 Furthermore, my Father is not the one who judges people concerning their sins. Instead, he has given to me the work of judging people, 23 in order that all people may honor me, just like they honor my Father. My Father considers that anyone who does not honor me is not honoring him, the one who sent me.

25 Listen to this carefully: There will be a time when those who are ◄spiritually dead/separated from God► will hear the voice of me, ◄the Son of God/the man who is also God►. In fact, it is that time already. Those who hear and pay attention to my message will have eternal life. 26 My Father has power to make things live. Similarly, he has given me the power to enable people to live eternally.

12 But those of us who welcomed him, God authorized that we would have a relationship with him [MET] like children have a relationship with their father. We were people who believed that what he said about himself [MTY] was true. 13 We became like God’s children, not because our ancestors belonged to God, or because of someone’s sexual desires, nor because some man desired to have children like himself. Instead, we were caused by God {God caused us} to become like his children.

20 It is as though I was with Christ when he was crucified {died on the cross} [MET] (OR, It is as though my old way of life ended when Christ died on the cross.) No longer am I directing the way I behave as I did before I believed in Christ. Now Christ is directing how I behave. And whatever I do now while I live, I do it trusting in God’s Son. He is the one who loved me and offered himself as a sacrifice for me.

4 But exactly at the time [MTY] that God had previously determined, he sent Jesus, who is ◄his Son/the man who is also God►, into the world. Jesus was born to a human mother. He had to obey the laws that God gave to Moses. 5 God sent Jesus in order that he might redeem us who had to obey God’s laws. God wanted us all to receive from God the status of being his children [MET]. 6 Furthermore, we know that we are God’s children because God sent the Spirit, who is intimately related to Jesus, to live in our ◄inner beings/hearts►. The Spirit enables us to pray fervently, "Daddy, Father!" This shows that we are God’s children.

10 Even when we were acting hostilely towards God, he enabled us to have a peaceful relationship with him as a result of his Son dying for us. So it is even more certain that we will be saved {Christ will be able to save us} from God’s punishing us [MTY] because Christ is alive again and because God has enabled us to have a peaceful relationship with himself.

6 Another reason that we will rejoice is that a special child will be born for us;

a woman will give birth to a son,

who will be our ruler.

And his names will be ‘Wonderful Counselor’, ‘Mighty/Powerful God’, ‘Our Everlasting Father’, and ‘Prince/Ruler who enables us to have Peace’.