Meaningless without eternity
This talk was given on Tuesday, 4/13/2021, at Christian Student Fellowship.
How many of you all have read Ecclesiastes? I’ve been reading through the Bible for a couple of years now, and just a month or so ago, I read Ecclesiastes. It wasn’t my first time reading it. I read it when I was a kid, and let’s just say I was NOT looking forward to reading it again. It’s, um, well, kind of a downer.
It was written by King Solomon, David’s son who took the throne after him. Solomon is best known for building the First Temple in Jerusalem. But he’s also known for being really wise. At the beginning of his reign, God said to him, “Ask for whatever you want me to give you.” And Solomon answered,
“You have shown great kindness to David my father and have made me king in his place. Now, Lord God, let your promise to my father David be confirmed, for you have made me king over a people who are numerous as the dust of the earth. Give me wisdom and knowledge, that I may lead this people, for who is able to govern this great people of yours?”
2 Chronicles 1:8-10
And God said to Solomon,
“Since this if your heart’s desire and you have not asked for wealth, possessions, or honor, nor for the death of your enemies, and since you have not asked for a long life but for wisdom and knowledge to govern my people over whom I have made you king, therefore wisdom and knowledge will be given you. And I will also give you wealth, possessions, and honor, such as no king who was before you ever had and none after you will have.”
2 Chronicles 1:11-12
So Solomon asked for wisdom, and God granted it to him along with blessings tenfold. He was the richest and wisest King ever, basically. And here is what he in all his wisdom concluded in Ecclesiastes:
The words of teh Teacher, son of David, king in Jerusalem:
“Meaningless! Meaningless!”
Says the Teacher.
“Utterly meaningless. Everything is meaningless.”
I denied myself nothing my eyes desired;
I refused my heart no pleasure.
My heart took delight in all my labor,
And this was the reward for all my toil.
Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done
And what I had toiled to achieve,
Everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind;
Nothing was gained under the sun.
Ecclesiastes 1:1-2, 2:10-11
So. That all sounds a little… pessimistic, right? Solomon, the wisest and most blessed King Israel ever saw, said everything was meaningless. Everything he had and did was meaningless. When I read this as a kid, I was like ??? If SOLOMON found life meaningless, what hope is there for me?
School is meaningless. Reading is meaningless. Gardening is meaningless. Anything I create, anything I write, anything I buy, anything I do—it’s all meaningless. So what’s the point in doing anything at all? What hope is there for me?
My pastor, Jason Pettus at Living Hope, said once, “Nothing a person can experience, do, or own in this dark, cursed world will satisfy a soul.” Discontentment grows when we pursue the lie that what the world can offer us will ever satisfy. Because everything is meaningless.
Now, when I was a kid, hearing this for the first time, I could only focus on how negative this sounded. If it’s all meaningless, what’s the point? But this time, a few months ago, studying this again, Ecclesiastes only gave me more hope. And let me tell you why.
In my small group at church, we’ve been reading 1 Thessalonians, and something that the Thessalonian church was struggling with was a fundamental belief in the faith, something Paul and the other missionaries with him didn’t have time to teach in their usual instructions because they had to leave prematurely. And this particular lack in their instruction related to the second coming and the final resurrection, which Paul addresses towards the end of the letter. Paul wrote a whole letter—two letters—to this church to explain the second coming and final resurrection, explain eternity.
But even before that, even before he explained it all to them, something stood out to me. He’s telling them that he misses them and really wants to come see them. You know, normal things. And then he says,
For what is our hope, our joy, or the crown in which we will glory in the presence of our Lord Jesus when He comes? Is it not you? Indeed, you are our glory and joy.
1 Thessalonians 2:19-20
What does this mean? He says that he wants to see them and is grieved by their separation because they are his “glory” in the presence of Jesus. He’s looking to eternity, to the future we as believers have in Jesus. In this instance and several others, before he gets to his explicit explanation of what’s going to happen at the Second Coming, Paul draws the attention of these Christians back to eternity. Yes, this whole letter was to explain the eternity and the final resurrection to them, which I will not get into today, but even BEFORE that when he’s telling them how much he misses them, he reminds them of eternity.
Everything rides on eternity. A few weeks ago, Weston from BGCC came and talked about Heaven being worth the hype, a place where we will finally get to be what and who God created us to be. A place without sin separating us from God’s goodness and love. A place where we have hope. Without Heaven, without that hope, this life is meaningless. Without looking forward to eternity, anything we do here and now today is nothing.
So, what is this hope we have in eternity? Well, it’s simple; we have the good news of Jesus Christ. Jesus Himself explains it best.
16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.
John 3:16-18
Let’s break that down a bit, from end to beginning. “Whoever does not believe stands condemned already.” Humanity stands condemned before the Creator. This happened at the fall of man, when Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit and were cast out of the garden. We were condemned. “Whoever believes in him [Jesus] is not condemned.” There is a way to not be condemned anymore, and it’s to believe in Jesus. “Jesus came to save the world through him.” Jesus came to offer salvation from our condemnation. He came to make a way for us to not be condemned anymore. “God did not send his Son to condemn the world.” That’s because we were condemned already, as we’ve established. “Whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” Being condemned means we would perish, but his saving us gives us eternal life. His giving us eternal life came at a steep cost: “He [God] gave his one and only Son.” And why did God do this? Because: “God so loved the world.” He loved us. He LOVES us. He loves us so much that, even as we—as all humans—were being condemned, right from the beginning, he promised in Genesis 3:15 that there would be a Savior.
“And I will put enmity between you and the women,
And between your offspring and hers;
He will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.”
Genesis 3:15
Even though we were condemned, God made a way for us to be saved. Even though everything is meaningless, we have hope for the future. Without that hope, there is no logical choice but to give up. But God made a way. And he’s given us a hope and a purpose.
So our hope is in Christ and being reunited with God, as we were designed to be. So what’s our purpose here? If everything here is meaningless, what is it that we’re supposed to be doing? Jesus tells us:
Therefore go and make disciples of all nations […]
Matthew 28:19a
We’re to go and tell people about our hope. We’re supposed to be showing them the way—the way to be saved, the way to Jesus.
And we do that also by inviting God into all those meaningless things. We are not bothered by afflictions and toil because our hope is in Christ, though we will still face afflictions and we will still toil. Invite God into it. He loves you, and he longs to care for you. He wants to walk with you. So much so that he sent his son to die for you. Inviting God into seemingly meaningless things will allow God to make every moment holy.
Being a Christian, believing in Jesus, means our entire lives are focused on God. What you do everyday should be focused on God. Paul insists to both the Corinthians and the Colossians that they be focused on God.
And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
Colossians 3:17
So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.
1 Corinthians 10:31
Every moment in your life is for God’s glory. Anything you do apart from Christ is meaningless. Whatever we do, we should be striving to glorify God—striving to please him, praise him, thank him, and pursue him. Our lives should be marked by a desire to glorify God, by living and doing things in the name of God, and by thanking God.
School. Hobbies. My schedule. Anything I create, anything I write, anything I buy, anything I do—it’s all for the glory of God. Otherwise, it’s meaningless.
Solomon, the richest and wisest king of Israel, in Ecclesiastes declares that everything is meaningless. What does he make of this?
Now all has been heard;
Here is the conclusion of the matter:
Fear God and keep his commandments,
For this is the duty of all mankind.
Ecclesiastes 12:13
Anything you could replace God with is meaningless. This world will not satisfy you. Keep your eyes on eternity, on what is to come because of God’s great love for us, and have hope in his faithfulness. Invite God into every moment. He will make every moment holy.
