This study is from an on going online Daily Bible Study at:
DailyBibleStudy.Org | Daily Bible Study Index Page | Daily Bible Study Online E-Book Library
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.
