God is Greater Than: Series Introduction. In ancient times, King Solomon used his wisdom and vast resources to observe everything done under the sun. And what did he find? Life was a vapor, a breath. So much of what we worry about and work for seems to be meaningless. Is there any way to find real meaning and significance in life? Or are we stuck living in depression, denial, or destructive cynicism? Recorded on Apr 24, 2022, on Ecclesiastes 1, by Pastor David Parks.
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This message is part of our “God is Greater Than…” sermon series. There are several common traps that human beings have fallen into for thousands of years. Traps of believing that certain pursuits are satisfying enough to take the place of God in your life. But in the end, these pursuits reveal themselves to be ultimately meaningless and lead to a hollow and deeply unsatisfying life. Our series will examine the traps of pursuing pleasure, wisdom, work, and wealth before coming to the conclusion that God is greater than all.
Sermon Transcript
All year, we’re focusing on, The Greatness of God. And today, we’re starting a new, 6-part sermon series from the book of Ecclesiastes in the Bible called “God Is Greater Than…” God is greater than what, exactly? Good question. Here’s the big idea for this series: There are several common traps that human beings have fallen into for thousands and thousands of years. These traps are traps of faith that can affect everything about how you live your life. Fundamentally, they’re traps of believing that certain pursuits are big/important/satisfying enough to displace, or, take the place of God in your life. What’s tricky about these traps is that they always seem to have the power to replace God for a season, or sometimes for years. But in the end, these pursuits reveal themselves to be ultimately meaningless and lead to a life that is hollow and deeply unsatisfying. What a tragedy. Our series will examine the traps of pursuing pleasure, wisdom, work, and wealth before coming to the conclusion that God is greater than all of these, and it’s only in him that life has meaning which will last forever. So let’s learn from the Teacher of Ecclesiastes, let us not waste our lives on things which are ultimately meaningless, and let us see that God is greater than all. If you have a Bible/app, please open to Ecclesiastes 1:1. We’re going to cover the whole first chapter, so we’ll unpack this as we go. v.1.
Ecclesiastes 1:1-2 (NIV), “1 The words of the Teacher, son of David, king in Jerusalem: 2 “Meaningless! Meaningless!” says the Teacher. “Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless.” Let’s pause here. So first, who wrote Ecclesiastes? Someone who says they are a son of David, that is, King David of ancient Israel who lived around 3,000 years ago. After David died, Solomon, his son, became the king of Israel, ruling from the capital city of Jerusalem. It never says directly, but from the clues in the text, Solomon is the most likely author. Some scholars don’t agree, but there really isn’t any solid evidence that it couldn’t be Solomon, and it fits God’s gift of wisdom described in 1Ki 4; let’s look at that together.
1 Kings 4:29–34 (NIV): “God gave Solomon wisdom and very great insight, and a breadth of understanding as measureless as the sand on the seashore. 30 Solomon’s wisdom was greater than the wisdom of all the people of the East, and greater than all the wisdom of Egypt. 31 He was wiser than anyone else, including Ethan the Ezrahite—wiser than Heman, Kalkol and Darda, the sons of Mahol. And his fame spread to all the surrounding nations. 32 He spoke three thousand proverbs and his songs numbered a thousand and five. 33 He spoke about plant life, from the cedar of Lebanon to the hyssop that grows out of walls. He also spoke about animals and birds, reptiles and fish. 34 From all nations people came to listen to Solomon’s wisdom, sent by all the kings of the world, who had heard of his wisdom.”
God had asked Solomon what he wanted when he became king and he asked for wisdom instead of fame or wealth or power. God was pleased with his request and gave him the wisdom he had asked for. So in this series, I’m assuming King Solomon is the author, who applied this God-given wisdom and insight and his great curiosity to the big questions of life. And if it’s true that Solomon is the author, that means it was likely written around 950 BC. Ecclesiastes is part of the wisdom literature in the Bible and is very philosophical. When people think about the history of philosophy, they usually start with the ancient Greek philosophers like Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. But King Solomon wrote Ecclesiastes and many of the Proverbs in the Bible over 500 years earlier than the Greek philosophers. Philosophy really started with the ancient Hebrew kings and prophets. Now, the Hebrew word translated as Teacher or Preacher has its root in the word for a gathering or assembly. So it’s possible this role is a person who speaks to some sort of gathering. So in this writing, Solomon isn’t making kingly pronouncements, laws, or commands. But rather, he’s sharing the results of a philosophical and ultimately theological search for meaning — to answer the question: what really matters in life? Ecclesiastes shares the wisdom he collected in this very personal search for significance and to understand the way things work under the sun. But what is his conclusion in verse 2? “Meaningless! Meaningless!” says the Teacher. “Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless.” Ok! This will be a very heartwarming series, don’t you think? But what does Solomon mean by this saying? Let’s continue with v.3 and see if we get more information.
Ecclesiastes 1:3-11 (NIV), “3 What do people gain from all their labors at which they toil 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 of 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 No one remembers the former generations, and even those yet to come will not be remembered by those who follow them.”
Let’s pause here again. Solomon writes very poetically here and highlights aspects of life “under the sun,” which is basically a phrase that means human life or earthly life. This phrase and the things he describes don’t really include the things of heaven. There are no references to God here. Life under the sun might be called a secular or materialistic world view, which, by the way, is one of the most common world views in our culture today. But what does this perspective give us? A series of seemingly endless cycles of nature leading to basically nothing that lasts. People come and go, generations come and go, we toil and labor, we build and create and repair, and for what? We never seem to be satisfied. And then what? 50 or 100 years later almost everything and everyone is forgotten. Even the few human achievements which are remembered 500 or 1000 years later don’t really benefit the people who accomplished them because they’re dead and gone. Do you know what this is? This is hebel. Hebel is the Hebrew word which translated throughout Ecclesiastes as meaningless. Hebel means vapor or breath. It figuratively means something that is here and then gone, something that has little to no substance, something empty or hollow or vain. A gnat is a little fly-like creature whose whole life lasts only 7 days. A gnat is hebel. Now people aren’t gnats. But still, from the perspective of the earth, much less from God’s eternal perspective, human life is so short. And so much of what we spend so much time and energy worrying about or working on or sacrificing for — so much of what consumes our lives really doesn’t last. It’s not something we like to spend a lot of time thinking about, but it seems Solomon is right; life is hebel. But how did he arrive at this conclusion? Let’s continue in v. 12.
Ecclesiastes 1:12-18 (NIV), “12 I, the Teacher, was king over Israel in Jerusalem. 13 I applied my mind to study and to explore by wisdom all that is done under the heavens. What a heavy burden God has laid on mankind! 14 I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind. 15 What is crooked cannot be straightened; what is lacking cannot be counted. 16 I said to myself, “Look, I have increased in wisdom more than anyone who has ruled over Jerusalem before me; I have experienced much of wisdom and knowledge.” 17 Then I applied myself to the understanding of wisdom, and also of madness and folly, but I learned that this, too, is a chasing after the wind. 18 For with much wisdom comes much sorrow; the more knowledge, the more grief.”
As we’ve said, this description really only fits one person in the Bible, that of King Solomon. So Solomon’s process or journey of exploring what matters and what (if anything) really lasts in life took place probably over many years. He used his resources and time and personality and gifts to explore, as he says, “all the things that are done under the sun.” He wanted to learn both what makes someone wise and what makes someone a fool. Who knows? Maybe meaning could be found not by being responsible and wise, but by being a fool? His conclusion to this is that the more he learned and the more wisdom he acquired, the worse he felt. “For with much wisdom comes much sorrow; the more knowledge, the more grief.” Why? Because all of the things people tend to pursue in life, whether it’s pleasures or wealth or wisdom or accomplishments in their work, none of these things finally satisfy. It’s all hebel.
But if this is the conclusion of a king, and not just any king but a king who was wealthy beyond imagining, who was gifted by God with wisdom and insight (gifted enough to be read and studied almost 3,000 years later), and who was one of the most famous people on earth at the time, what hope is there for us?!? Is there anything that might give us significance or meaning which will actually last under the sun? Ultimately, the answer is yes. There is meaning to be found. There are things we can pursue which will finally satisfy and will last forever. Ecclesiastes may raise some uncomfortable questions, but it doesn’t land in a place without hope. But before we get to our Source of hope, let’s consider our options. If you study the history of philosophy, you’ll know that there aren’t an infinite number of conclusions that human beings have come to about these big existential questions of life. There are really only a few options that people have come up with over the ages. So what options do we have when we consider the meaninglessness of life? What options do we have when we encounter the futility, injustice, and chaos of this broken world? In my view, we have only four options. 1. We can become lost in despair and hopelessness. This world is difficult and harsh and it doesn’t really seem like we can do anything about that. This is very depressing. So the solution of so many people today is to turn to medication or therapy to deal with our depression. I’m not against medication or therapy, but is this the life we want to live? I don’t think so. 2. We can live in denial or at least try to forget reality for a time. Sure, the world is depressing, but let’s just not think about it or talk about it, ok? Or maybe through alcohol or drugs or binge-watching tv or video games or some other form of escapism, we can forget about it all for a time. And some of these things can bring us a measure of happiness for a time, but again, is this the life we want to live? A life living in denial of reality? I don’t think so. 3. We can become cynical and nihilistic and just want to see the whole thing burn to the ground. This is a response of anger/rage against all the systems/structures/cultures/people of this broken world. If I can’t have lasting happiness/satisfaction/meaning, then no one can. I really don’t think this is the type of life anyone wants to live, but it is a destructive one that we see in our society. 4. In response to all the hebel of life, we can turn to someone who exists from eternity and is transcendently above and beyond this life under the sun. This is where the ancient Hebrew philosophers differed from the Greeks. They turned to God, the creator of the heavens and the earth. A personal God who speaks and has entered into a covenant relationship with the family of Abraham and Sarah. A God who knows what life is like in this broken world and has a plan to redeem and renew all things. And it’s here that we find our hope. Instead of becoming depressed or living in denial or resorting to destructive cynicism, we can trust that God is sovereign over all, that he is still great and he is still good, that his plans of redemption and renewal will come to fruition, and in the end, justice will be done, even when we don’t understand.
Commentator Duane Garrett writes, “This passage is not a contradiction to the gospel but a call for it. The world is in bondage; and humanity is unable to explain, find satisfaction in, or alter it. Only the Word [that is Jesus Christ], who came into the world from above, can open the way of understanding and escape.” [Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs (NAC)] The good news is that God agrees with this assessment of the meaninglessness of life under the sun, but he isn’t content with leaving things that way, in bondage as they are to sin and death. God sent his son Jesus Christ, to live and die and rise again, to provide a way for us to be forgiven and freed from the power of sin and death. And by faith in Jesus, we can experience a life that isn’t only hebel, a life that actually has meaning and significance that lasts; not just 50 or 100 years, but forever and ever in the kingdom of God, the kingdom where Jesus is king. But for the next few weeks, we’ll consider these common traps, the things we pursue in life, thinking that they will bring us the life that we long for. As we take this journey, may we have the humility to learn, as Solomon learned, that these pursuits will ultimately let us down. May we refuse to give in to despair or denial or destruction as we endure this life under the sun. And may we never lose hope, for Jesus is alive and he is good, and in him, all things find their meaning and significance. God is greater. Let us pray.