Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ…

People attending the synagogue of that day would pray, ‘Blessed art thou, O Lord our God and God of our fathers.’ It’s been pointed out that the re-shaping of this prayer, so that it is now directed to ”the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ…” gives some insight into the impact of Jesus, the Son of God on early Jewish Christian believers like Paul and Peter. It should not be lost on us that in a number of New Testament letters the Name of Jesus is spoken of in the closest possible connection with God the Father. Also, that this is done by Jews who were so wary of slipping into blasphemy. But they could speak of Jesus and God in the same breath. Other parts of Paul’s writings reveal that he clearly believed Jesus to be God.

Paul was aware that there were those who preached ‘another’ Jesus (see 11:4-6). He wanted his readers to be clear about the identity of the real Jesus.