First Peter 1:3 says, "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 among the dead." In the writings of the Apostle Peter, there are many hidden riches. In 1:3, Peter said that we were regenerated through the resurrection of Christ. But in verse 23 of the same chapter, Peter said that we were regenerated through the living word of God. It seems that there are two ways to be regenerated: through the resurrection of Christ and through the living word. Although they seem to be two different ways, they are actually one way. Christ's resurrection is conveyed in the word. The living word that regenerates us is the word that conveys the resurrection of Christ. The resurrection of Christ is a fact revealed in verse 3. Through the wonderful fact of Christ's resurrection, we all were regenerated by God. We were regenerated by God through the resurrection of Christ; but how do we know the fact of Christ's resurrection? We know it through the living word of God, through the word of the gospel. In the preaching of the gospel, the main thing we must tell people is that Christ today is resurrected and that He is the Savior in resurrection.
The resurrection of Christ is the fact, and the living word of God is the description of that fact. These two things are actually one thing. Without the resurrection of Christ, the gospel has no content. But without the preaching of the gospel, the speaking of the living word that conveys the resurrection of Christ, no one would know about this resurrection. Therefore, we must go out to reach people, to speak to people, to tell them of the resurrection of Christ. The more we preach, the more people will be regenerated.
Regeneration makes the believers the children of God and the sons of God (John 1:12; Heb. 2:10). Life by itself, without the action of regeneration, does not make us a child of God. Life must pass through the action of regeneration in order to make us a child of God. Regeneration by the divine life makes us a child of God. First, we become children of God; then we become sons of God (Heb. 2:10).