Published on Sep 19, 2012
Calvary Chapel Spring Valley | Sunday Evening | September 16, 2012 | Derek Neider
_____________________________
I have written on the Book of Ecclesiastes and the subject of the meaning of our lives on several occasions on this blog. In this series on Ecclesiastes I hope to show how secular humanist man can not hope to find a lasting meaning to his life in a closed system without bringing God back into the picture. This is the same exact case with Solomon in the Book of Ecclesiastes. Three thousand years ago, Solomon took a look at life “under the sun” in his book of Ecclesiastes. Christian scholar Ravi Zacharias has noted, “The key to understanding the Book of Ecclesiastes is the term ‘under the sun.’ What that literally means is you lock God out of a closed system, and you are left with only this world of time plus chance plus matter.”
Let me show you some inescapable conclusions if you choose to live without God in the picture. Solomon came to these same conclusions when he looked at life “under the sun.”
- Death is the great equalizer (Eccl 3:20, “All go to the same place; all come from dust, and to dust all return.”)
- Chance and time have determined the past, and they will determine the future. (Ecclesiastes 9:11-13)
- Power reigns in this life, and the scales are not balanced(Eccl 4:1)
- Nothing in life gives true satisfaction without God including knowledge (1:16-18), ladies and liquor (2:1-3, 8, 10, 11), and great building projects (2:4-6, 18-20).
You can only find a lasting meaning to your life by looking above the sun and bring God back into the picture.
Vanity: The Diagnosis and the Antidote
April 17, 2013 at 10:53 am | Posted in Ecclesiastes | Leave a comment
Tags: 1 Corinthians 15, Bible lessons on Ecclesiastes, Bible study on Ecclesiastes, Book of Ecclesiastes, commentary on Ecclesiastes, Ecclesiastes, labor in the Lord, Sunday School lessons on Ecclesiastes, vanity
The Book of Ecclesiastes is – in my opinion – one of the more difficult books in the Bible to teach. Many of its proclamations seem troubling and paradoxical in light of New Testament revelation. However, when understood in the proper context, it is an extremely edifying book, and, like all Scripture, it is immensely profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction in righteousness. It also contains its own helpful thematic summation:
Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.
Ecclesiastes 12:13
Our earthly life is both temporary, and, in some respects, vain, but it is also valuable and of eternal significance. It is a gift from our Creator, and we must be good stewards of it.
For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.
Ecclesiastes 12:14
Three solid principles for Christians to remember each day are: Fear God, obey God, and prepare to meet God.
The antidote to Ecclesiastes’ diagnosis of “vanity of vanities, all is vanity” is:
Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.
I Corinthians 15:58 (emphasis added)
Here are links to the previous lessons on the Book of Ecclesiastes:
1. Contextual Wisdom
2. Nothing New under the Sun
3. Darkness under the Sun
4. Break It Up!
5. Right Where You’re Supposed to Be
6. Do Birds Sing about Eternity?
7. Good Timing
8. Order in a Fallen World
9. Working for a Living
10. Fresh, Frail, or Fruitful?
11. Two Kinds of Heart Medication
12. Don’t Ruin Your Name
13. Would You Rather? (Wisdom of Solomon Edition) (*)
14. Don’t Lose Your Balance
15. Accurate Timing
16. The Best Laid Plans of Mice and Men
17. Fooling or Ruling?
18. A Fly in the Ointment
19. His Heart Was in the Right Place
20. A Little Bird Told Me
21. Fortifying the Fulcrum
22. Indulgent, Incompetent, or Industrious?
23. Life’s Big Adventure
24. Under the Sun vs. Over the Sun
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