1 Peter 1:3
3 Blessed [eulogetos] be the God [theos] and [kai] Father [pater] of our [hemon] Lord [kurios] Jesus [Iesous] Christ [Christos], which [ho] according to [kata] his [autos] abundant [polus] mercy [eleos] hath begotten
[anagennao] us [hemas] again [anagennao] unto [eis] a lively [zao] hope [elpis] by [dia] the resurrection [anastasis] of Jesus [Iesous] Christ [Christos] from [ek] the dead [nekros], KJV-Interlinear
3 Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be
born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the
dead, NASB
Blessed, means one who
has been set apart, one who has been sanctified, one who is holy. And God is the original and origin of
holiness.
God the Father is one
of three members of the Godhead.The
Holy Spirit and the Son are the other two members of the Godhead.
All three members are
co-equal, co-infinite, and co-eternal.
All three members possess the same identical and exact attributes of
essence omniscience, omnipresence, omnipotence, veracity, immutability, love,
eternal life, righteousness, justice, and sovereignty.
And while the human
race, influenced by its own arrogance, looks to an almighty or deity, who is
often viewed as God or the Father, then God has set out a prescription and
process for access to Him which is acceptable to Him.
Remember that God is
perfect, and perfect God can have no relationship with something that is less
than perfect.
Man tries to approach
God by means of his (mans) own effort.
This is not acceptable by God.Man,
who is a sinner, cannot lift himself out of his sinfulness and corruption. Therefore, God set out a plan by which God
Himself (the Son), would do the work of salvation, which work man cannot
accomplish himself.
And it is by means of
this plan, which is attributed to the Father, that man can approach God, through
the Son only.
All religion,
beliefs, cults, philosophies, etc., are mans efforts to reach God, and they are
all rejected by God.Only Christianity recognizes
the Savior, Jesus Christ, and it is by His name, Christ, that Christianity is
set apart and different than all other beliefs.
So, God (all three),
looked down through time and saw that man would try to approach God on their
own, so They (God) came up with a plan by which Gods work only, would be
acceptable and perfect and complete.
They set up a hierarchy (which is not really a hierarchy), such that man
would have to come to God through the Son.
Arrogance wants to go
straight to the top, rather than through some second in command, even if the
second is a matter of perception only.
So, God the Father is
credited with the divine plan.The Son
is credited with executing the plan, and the Holy Spirit is credited with
supporting and revealing the plan.
God the Father is
blessed, sanctified, perfect, in His plan.
God the Son is blessed, sanctified, perfect in His execution of the
plan, and God the Holy Spirit is blessed, sanctified, perfect in His support
and revelation of the plan.
It is through His
(all) plan and action, and revelation, that we have been able to be born
again.Born once into this physical
life, and a second time into the spiritual life.
Our first birth comes
at the moment of our separation from the womb.
Our second birth, comes at the moment of our faith in Christ. At our first birth, we receive human
life.At our second birth, we receive
eternal life.
Our second birth
gives us a living hope.And hope means
confidence in looking toward a good future in heaven and not in the Lake of
Fire.Our hope is from the perspective of
the living as opposed to a hope from the view of the dead, which is no hope at
all.The dead is a reference to those
who reject Christ, never having accepted Him, ever.
And all of this is
due to the work of Christ on the Cross, when He went there and spent three
hours on the Cross, while alive, receiving the punishment intended for us all,
for our sins, and then dying physically, and remaining dead for three days, and
then being resurrected back from the dead, to life, thus ending all hold that
death has on any living person.
Death is a separation
from something functional and alive.Ultimately,
death is the separation from God, who is life.
Man cannot separate
himself from God, and then return to God, on his own. Man simply does not have the ability to
accomplish that.Drive past any cemetery
and ask its occupants if any can bring themselves back to life. Of course you will get no answer, for none of
them can come back to life, let alone hear you.
Once death has
occurred, man is totally helpless, and totally dependent on Gods mercies.