Focal Passages: Ecclesiastes 1:1-14
We begin a six-week study on living a life focused on God’s purpose for our lives. To live a life of true meaning, everyone must first understand the futility of life without faith in God.
Every human searches for meaning and significance. The problem is that we search in every way other than the one leading to lasting fulfillment. This week’s lesson illustrates the meaninglessness of living in a world devoid of God.
Hustle and bustle and no purpose. The opening verse of Ecclesiastes startles with the assertion that there is no meaning in life. This book serves as a philosophical questioning of the very meaning of life. Its tone from the outset presents a very negative picture, as Solomon asks the rhetorical question, “What does a person gain from all his efforts?” The answer is a resounding, “No!”
The King describes the activity of the sun, the wind and the movement of rivers. As each day dawns, the world comes alive with the activity of nature and the comings and goings of humanity and the animal kingdom. While the world teems with life, there is no purpose to it if God remains out of the equation.
Moore
The answer to life is not in more activity, more items on the to-do list or more power and responsibility. Rather, purpose stems from the ultimate reality of God’s power beyond the confines of this world. If this world is all there is, there is no true significance to it.
Nothing new under the sun. We live in a day and age that is fascinated by what’s new and innovative. Many of us believe the modern age is progressing ahead in technology, science and human thriving.
While humanity has only now been able to enjoy life with smart phones and personal computers, the philosophies and tendencies of human interaction are the same now as ever before.
The problems that arise from the use of social media and the constant accessibility of information on the devices we carry point to the ever-present degradation of sinful frailty that has plagued humanity since the Fall in the Garden.
These problems are simply just repackaged into shinier and more glamorous methods of delivery. Don’t be fooled. The same issues plague us today that dominated during the days of King Solomon.
In addition, the philosophical and religious nuances spouted today as innovative are not new at all. A simple search of the history of human reasoning proves that any “new ideas” are simply old ideas repurposed for a new audience. There truly is nothing new under the sun. We should seek out the ancient truth that is timeless, and that truth is found in God’s Word.
Only futility without God. King Solomon concludes the first chapter of Ecclesiastes with the pessimistic view that everything is meaningless. This points to the ultimate reality of all non-theistic philosophies and ideologies in this world.
The danger of secular, atheistic thought and living is a nihilistic abyss of meaninglessness, apathy and despair. A purposeless life has no fulfillment and can lead to the breakdown of human civilization. The only way to escape the futility of life is to, as King Solomon puts it at the conclusion of Ecclesiastes, “Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.” B&R
