Well, good morning. And let me be the first to wish you a happy Christ Center 2019. Please pray for our pastor as he is away, as some of the other staff members are. So welcome again to 2019, I guess in a, in a couple of days.
John MacArthur said this, he said, they, the Jews knew that God was holy, righteous, sinless, perfect, and omnipotent. They knew his divine attributes and nature could not and could not comprehend his experiencing pain, much less temptation. Not only this, but under the oak covenant, God's dealings with his people were more indirect, more distant. MacArthur says the Jews believed that God was incapable of sharing the feelings of men.
He was too distant, too far removed in nature for man to be able to identify with his feelings and temptations and problems. And comprehending God's sympathy was hard for the Jews. It was even harder for most Gentiles of that day. So the idea that God could and would identify with men in their trials and and temptations was revolutionary to Jews and Gentiles alike.
But the writer of Hebrews is saying we have a God who not only has been there, but one who is there. Amen. We thank God for the fact that he is a personal God. I invite you, if you have your Bibles to turn with me to Hebrews chapter 4, Hebrews chapter 4, verses 14 to 16, and while you're turning there, just a thought on Hebrews....
