August 5, 2012 Where's Meaning?

Where’s Meaning? Ecclesiastes 1:9-10 What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun. 10 Is there anything of which one can say, “Look! This is something new”? ECCLESIASTES is a book of varied thoughts, a wide range of emotions and an ultimate understanding that everything outside of God is meaningless. To go from this beginning to the end of the book, the writer contemplates what life looks like from a human point of view, and helps you see what life means from God’s point of view. The evidence isn’t conclusive, many credit Solomon, the son of King David, to be the author. Although he was a man of immense wealth and wisdom, he had strayed from God. As he approached the end of his life, God gave him a view of his family’s future. As God’s punishment to Solomon, God would remove his descendants from Judah’s throne. These opening words to Ecclesiastes are Solomon’s response to what God’s Spirit had revealed to him. Solomon saw that he kingdom of Rehoboam, his son, was about to be divided with Jeroboam, the son of Nebat; and the temple he had built would be destroyed. Solomon also saw that the people of Judah would be sent into captivity. Solomon is seeing that his earthly work will come to nothing for his family’s future. Solomon has rejected the legacy of wisdom and truth in God. He has traded God’s ways for the world’s ways. And all is empty. Yes, what he says here is true. All is meaningless IF you look at the world. Ecclesiastes is Solomon’s plea for meaning in life. What he forgot is that life’s meaning comes only from Life himself. It’s True! Life gives breath to life.