::: click title above to download the teaching :::
What I love about king Solomon is his frank and brutal honesty about the human condition. He searched everything "under the sun" and concluded there is absolutely no meaning to it whatsoever.
"Under the sun"is a key phrase throughout his book, Ecclesiastes. It appears 29 times and means simply "life on the earth"... no revelation from God... no God revealing himself... no God speaking or breaking in to our lives. Just life in the natural, physical realm of this earth.
Ecclesiastes is a book about the meaning of life. It raises the question that the rest of the Bible is written to answer... "Why are we here? What's the point? What's this life for?" It's the same question that every generation seeks to answer. Every generation that has ever lived comes along with this naive notion that they're going to fix things. We all think we have a new idea, a new revelation, a new angle, a new religion, a new philosophy... and with it we are going to change this world and make it a better place. But we don't realize that life isn't a forward, linear progression... life is a circle. We mistake moving for progress. Solomon realized this 3000 years ago. Life is a cycle of frustration that will never change, never get better, never make any new progress. Sure, it looks different with each new generation. But when one dies another comes along and recycles all the same problems, frustrations, and routines.
There is nothing under the sun that gives us any indication of where we came from, where we are going, and why we are here. People may seek answers to those questions, but they will never find... under the sun. We can obtain all the information the world has to offer, and it won't matter. Solomon has already been there. He lived it. He was the wisest, richest, horniest man that ever lived. Just like many people in the world today, he had all kinds of information, but no ability to fix the problem of the human condition. Every day I hear and read so many answers... so much "new" information people have obtained that will revolutionize us as a society. But it's all a chasing after the wind. It's meaningless. And some people are so educated they will never see it... never understand... never get it.
Soren Kierkegaard said,
"It is perfectly true, as philosophers say, that life must be understood backwards. But they forget the other proposition, that it must be lived forwards. And if one thinks over that proposition it becomes more and more evident that life can never really be understood in time simply because at no particular moment can I find the necessary resting place from which to understand it—backwards."
Our goal is to define life forward, then live it backwards. KNOW why you are here, then LIVE! In living life there really are only two options: (1) ourselves, or (2) God. We can look for meaning in what we, ourselves can accomplish (just like Solomon as described in his book of Ecclesiastes). Or we can take the advice of Jesus, who said "...as soon as you lose your life you will find it." Jesus came not just to inform us (like Solomon)... but he came also to transform us. There is a great difference between information and transformation. The fact is, Solomon was right. Life has no meaning, no purpose, no goal... unless the creation and the Creator is reconciled.
Every new movement... every cause... every "ism" is an attempt to bridge that gap, but there is no hope. We cannot fix ourselves. And so God came down and bridged it for us. Solomon gives us that brutal and honest reminder. Take a listen to the download for further thoughts on this age old philosophical discussion. Also, post your thoughts. I'd love to see your insights from your study and contemplation of these things.
Not sure why, but since this Sunday and every time I've thought of commenting on this post, one word keeps entering my mind "validation". I went back and read your February post on validation. What is this life for? Why do we seek to find the meaning? To feel and be validated.....it's all meaningless...spitting into the wind.....in Him, we are Validated.....there is MEANING....
Posted by: Lisa M | March 09, 2004 at 05:45 PM