(A verse-by-verse study from a NCT perspective.)
3 Blessed is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who birthed us anew, according to His great mercy, into an expectation that is alive by means of the resurrection of Jesus Christ out of the dead.
Three things are expressed of God in this verse. First, He is the God and Father of the Lord Jesus. It may seem strange to speak of God as Jesus' God because the Bible clearly teaches that Jesus is God. So why would Peter describe God in this relation to Jesus? One answer is that the God of whom Peter speaks is the God of whom Jesus spoke. In other words, Jesus came to reveal the Father (Jn. 1:18), to make the Father known (Jn. 14:7f.). Therefore, Peter may be affirming that he is referring to the same God whom Jesus proclaimed. "Blessed be the God of whom Jesus taught."
Another answer is that Peter is focusing on the humanity of Christ. The God in heaven is the God whom the man—Jesus of Nazareth—served. From the cross, Jesus cried out, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?" (Mt. 27:46), clearly speaking out of His human nature, rather than His divine nature. So, Peter may be describing God as the one whom Jesus-the-man obeyed (Jn. 4:34; Phil. 2:8).
God is also the Father of our Lord Jesus. Two things are significant about this phrase. One is that the relationship expressed between God and Jesus is described as Father/Son. When theologians speak of the first and second persons of the Trinity, we gain an abstract, yet accurate, description of the biblical data regarding God. But this doesn't communicate very much about them. However, regarding them as Father and Son (which is the way the Scripture describes them) provides a much richer portrait of the roles and relationship among the members of the Godhead. We cannot relate to two distinctions within the divine essence, but we can relate to a parent and child.
The other significant word is Lord. Throughout the Old Testament, 'Lord' was reserved for God, Here, someone other than God is called 'Lord' (that is, someone other than God the Father). Granted, Jesus is God, but in this verse Peter makes a distinction between the two. Again, I believe, referring to Jesus the human who has been given authority over heaven and earth by God (Mt. 28:18).
Second, He re-generates believers, that is, He takes us through a new birth. In the same way that our first birth was not a choice we made, but was dependent on our father's "action," so also our second birth is the result of our Father's action. The father/Father is the cause; physical birth/new birth is the effect.
Third, this new birth flows from the deep waters of God's mercy. He was not obligated or compelled to give us new life, rather, He freely choose to do so because He is a God of great grace and kindness.
Furthermore, the new life so kindly given to us by our heavenly Father is an expectation that is alive. It impacts our now and our later. It contains a promised hope for the future (which will be described in more detail in the next verse). The apostle wants us to understand that this living hope is gained through the means of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Because Jesus was dead but now lives, we who experience the regeneration of God will also live after death. As Peter's friend Paul put it, if our hope in Christ only has ramifications for our brief stay on earth, what a pity! (1 Cor. 15:19). But that is not the case. We hope for victory over death and eternal life with our Lord because He has already overcome the grave. His empty tomb secures our empty tombs.
What is the appropriate response to this gracious gift of living hope? Praise and adoration to the One who gave it. Blessed by the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!
To Ponder:
Does the resurrection of Jesus Christ provoke worship in you? Have you accurately estimated the significance of your new birth in light of His new life?