1Pet 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has regenerated us unto a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
In this verse Peter speaks not only of God, but speaks of the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. The unbelieving Jews knew about God. Their God was the One who created the universe. But these Jews would not believe that their God was also the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. There is an important difference here. Of course, it is not true to say that the Jews believe in one God and that Christians believe in a different God. The crucial point here is that there is a great difference between the understanding and realization concerning God among Jews and among Christians. According to the understanding of the Jews, God is the Creator of the universe, but He is not the God and Father of Jesus Christ. In our understanding, however, God is both the Creator of the universe and the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ (John 20:17). This is the reason Peter uses the definite article before "God" in 1:3. In 1:3 Peter declares that the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ has regenerated us unto a living hope according to His great mercy. Here we see that once again Peter uses an adjective: he speaks not merely of God's mercy, but speaks of His great mercy. Paul also speaks concerning God's mercy, but he does not use the adjective "great" to describe it. (c) 2007 Living Stream Ministry.
Bible verses are taken from the Recovery Version of the Bible and Words of Ministry from Witness Lee, Life-study of First Peter, pp. 23-24. Both are published by Living Stream Ministry, Anaheim, CA. Please visit us at www.emanna.com. Send comments to: [email protected].
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