Point of Grace Worship 8.10.25 Seeking Wisdom – Part 6 “ Ecclesiastes – Part 1 What is the Meaning of Life?”
“What is the Meaning of Life?”
Three Major Truths Found in the Wisdom Books…
#1 - We all need WISDOM
#2 - We all need JESUS
#3 - We all need HUMILITY
The Fear of the Lord
“A relationship of awe and reverence for God with deep relational love, trust and submission.”
Proverbs 9:10
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.
WHAT IS THE MEANING—THE WHOLE POINT—OF LIFE?
Our First Guest: THE AUTHOR OF THE ECCLESIASTES
Ecclesiastes 1:1
The words of the Teacher, a son of David, king in Jerusalem:
Our Second Guest: THE TEACHER
Qoheleth
Ekklesia
Ecclesiastes 1:2
“Meaningless! Meaningless!’” says the Teacher. “Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless!’”
Ecclesiastes 12:8
“Meaningless! Meaningless!’” says the Teacher. “Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless!”
Hevel
Ecclesiastes 1:2-11
“Meaningless! Meaningless,” says the Teacher. “Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless!” 3 What does man gain from all his labor at which he toils under the sun? 4 Generations come and generations go, but the earth remains forever….
5 The sun rises and the sun sets, and hurries back to where it rises. 6 The wind blows to the south and turns to the north; round and round it goes, ever returning on its course. 7 All streams flow into the sea, yet the sea is never full. To the place the streams come from, there they return again. 8 All things are wearisome, more than one can say….
The eye never has enough seeing, nor the ear its fill of hearing. 9 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”? It was here already, long ago; it was here before our time….
11 There is no remembrance of men of old, and even those who are yet to come will not be remembered by those who follow.
Ecclesiastes 1:13
I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind.
Ecclesiastes 2:11
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.
A Central Message of the Book of Ecclesiastes:
IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO FIND A LIFE OF LASTING, UNSHAKABLE MEANING, PURPOSE, IDENTITY, CONTENTMENT, JOY AND PEACE IF YOU ONLY LOOK “UNDER THE SUN”
Real Life is Not Found Horizontally but Vertically—“Above the Sun”
1 Corinthians 1:24
…the Power of God and the Wisdom of God
Colossians 1:17-18
He is before all things and in him all things hold together…so that in everything he might have the supremacy.
Remember your Creator in the days of your youth, before the days of trouble come and the years approach when you will say, “I find no pleasure in them.”
Ecclesiastes 12:6-7
Remember him—before the silver cord is severed, or the golden bowl is broken; before the pitcher is shattered at the spring, or the wheel broken at the well, 7 and the dust returns to the ground it came from, and the spirit returns to God who made it.
Ephesians 1:4-5,10 (LB)
Long ago, even before He made the world, God chose us to be His very own through what Christ would do for us with His love. 5 His unchanging plan has always been to adopt us into His own family by sending Jesus Christ to die for us. And He did this because He wanted to…10 And this was His purpose: that when the time is right He will gather us all together to be with Him in Christ forever.
Why Did God Make You?
GOD MADE YOU TO LOVE HIM AND LIVE WITH HIM FOREVER!
Ecclesiastes 3:10
God has also set eternity in the hearts of men.
Ecclesiastes 12:9-14
Not only was the Teacher wise, but also he imparted knowledge to the people. He pondered and searched out and set in order many proverbs. 10 The Teacher searched to find just the right words, and what he wrote was upright and true. 11 The words of the wise are like goads, their collected sayings like firmly embedded nails—given by one Shepherd. 12 Be warned, my son, of anything in addition to them. Of making many books there is no end, and much study wearies the body. 13 Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. 14 For God will bring every deed into judgement, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil.
John 10: 10-11
I have come that you may have life and have it abundantly. 11 I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd lays his life down for the sheep.
Colossians 3:1-4
Since then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. 3 For you, died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.