Eternal Comfort and Good Hope

After the exhortation to "stand firm" and to "hold fast" to the apostolic traditions the church was taught (verse 15), Paul offers the first benediction of the letter in the form of a prayer. The prayer begins by making both God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ to the objects of the petition, and so placing them on the same plane. The Christological implications are evident. But unlike the majority of the verses where both the Father and Jesus Christ appear together, the name of the Lord Jesus Christ is placed in the first position.