Ecclesiastes 7:24 says, "How can anyone discover the meaning of life?"
We all have asked this question at one time or another but to come up with its answer is perhaps one of the greatest challenges ever. We long to know where all of life, especially that of our own, came from and where are we going. I don’t know a lot of sane people who enjoy being lost—not knowing where I’m going or what I’m doing promotes anxiety and restlessness. Moreover, when we don’t know the meaning of life there are consequences.
Ecclesiastes 1 gives us five results:
1. Life seems useless.
2. Life seems tiresome.
3. Life seems unfulfilling.
4. Life is insignificant.
5. Life seems uncontrollable.
However, knowing the meaning of life gives one hope that life is not all about suffering or experiencing tid-bits of pleasure here and there. Knowing the meaning of life gives us true, living hope.This century’s most famous evangelist Billy Graham said man can live without everything: wealth, power, fame, sex but not hope. Traditionally, Ecclesiastes is said to have been written by David’s son Solomon toward the end of his rule as king of Israel, when his 700 foreign wives and 300 concubines had turned his heart from God. This would be around 940 - 930 B.C.
The Hebrew translation of Ecclesiastes means assembly speaker. This book is Solomon’s sharing of his life experience with us all. When he attempted to determine life’s meaning using his own 5 senses he concluded with perhaps his most famous quote, “Meaningless! Meaningless! Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless.” But when he came to God to find the meaning of his life he found real fulfillment.Solomon is closer than anyone in regards to knowing and experiencing just about everything. In 1 Kings 3:5 God said to Solomon in a dream, “Ask for whatever you want me to give you.” So Solomon asked God not for riches or fame but for wisdom to carry out his kingship. This so pleased God that he made Solomon the wisest man ever. God also blessed him with the greatest riches (even Warren Buffet, who is said to have profited $8 billion 2 weeks ago when the stock market crashed, would look poor next to Solomon). Solomon is also matchless in possessing the most power and pleasure ever. In short, Solomon had it all. Yet his conclusion about life under the sun, or life on earth was that it was all meaningless, a chasing after the wind. Solomon uses the word meaningless 30 times in the book of Ecclesiastes.
Growing up my family went to church. However our life in church and at home did not match at all. My dad would come home in a drunken rage, beat my mom and terrorize us three kids until we cowered at the sound of his coming home. To cope, my mom fell into deep depression and substance abuse. After 22 years of misery my parents divorced. Naturally growing up with this planted deep fatalism about what the future held for me esp in regards to marriage. I thought what’s the point of it all. My parents are smart, hard-working and wanted to do what was right yet their lives fell apart so what made me think I could do any better? Moreover, when I defined my life for myself I only experienced chaos, inconsolable sorrow, alcoholism, extreme frustration, lust, broken relationships and as Solomon said it best, “MEANINGLESSNESS, a chasing after the wind.” I tried to do away with the darkness and emptiness and meaninglessness of my life by making a lot of friends, going on dates with guys, shopping on Michigan Ave, drinking, traveling. I remember sitting on the floor of my dorm room being completely paralyzed from deep deep hopelessness after my parents’ divorce. The hopelessness I experienced was so powerful I thought it was literally sitting on me keeping me from getting up. I reached a point where felt I had enough of hell and decided since I tried everything else why not try studying the Bible as a last resort. Not a good attitude but nonetheless, God welcomed me like I was what he was waiting for all his life—if that’s possible to say about God. He did not judge me, reject me, let me down or deceive me as I felt for most of my life.
From one particular Bible study, a verse captured my heart and mind because it was exactly what I needed and wanted in life. The verse comes from 1Peter 1:3 which says, “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” Just as hopelessness seemed to hold me down the words “living hope” jumped off the page and really changed my life forever. The power of this message fed and continues to feed the need I for true hope I desperately seek. God was telling me to look away from the world which only has dead hopes and turn my eyes to him and receive a living hope.
From that point on I struggled to find the meaning of my life from God’s word and will. As a result my life became unbelievable. God took a messed up, hopeless, distorted so called life and made me a new creation. The suffering I experienced was meaningless outside of God but without it I would have never come to know the living hope God gives us through Jesus. He entrusted me with his work and gave me the privilege to marry a man of God with whom we can share love and life together and do God’s will together. God also blessed us with almost 4 lovely and lively children to love and raise as Godly men and women. My life is blessed by God beyond my wildest imagination.
Finding the meaning of life brings up 3 basic questions that need addressing. They are where did you come from, why are you here, and where are you going?
First answering the question where did you come from is imp b/c I think one reason why people struggle so much with the meaning of life is because they do not know the origin of life. To know why we are here, we must know where we came from.
There are 2 basic schools of thought when it comes to the origin of life—evolution and creationism. In a nutshell evolution requires that life arises by itself from matter. Science has repeatedly demonstrated that life comes only from life—this is the Law , note not theory, but “LAW” of Biogenesis. The opposite of this law is spontaneous generation—life spontaneously occurring from non-living matter-- but this fails to answer the first cause of life. What caused life to begin where there had never been life before?
Evolution also hypothesizes that man evolved from “lower animals” which in turn came from simpler life forms, all the way back to the first microscopic life, which sprang accidently from non-living matter. But as you can imagine, this theory has major flaws. One statistic to support that man did not evolve from “lower animals” can be found in the famous “1860 Oxford Evolution Debate” between Thomas Huxley (aka Darwin’s bulldog) and Bishop Samuel Wilberforce. Huxley suggested that given enough time and material, 6 monkeys could type the 23rd Psalm (The Lord is my shepherd)simply by randomly punching the keys. Assuming a 50-key typewriter to accommodate letters, numbers, and punctuation, the chance of typing “THE” is one in 50X50X50, or one in 125,000. At a rate of one strike per second this would take 34.72 hours. For the phrase, “THE LORD” the chance becomes 50^-8 and requires 1,238,663.7 years. The entire Psalm requires 9.552 X 10^1016 years to complete on average.
If man evolved from animals and is really only all animal, just slightly more complex, why do we have characteristics that differ so vastly from animals. For instance we appreciate beauty in art, music, literature. Do animals create new paintings, buildings, symphonies or works of literature that other animals can enjoy?
Why do humans have a conscience and a sense of morals? Is there an ethical standard in the pride of African lions or is it all based on survival of the fittest? When do hyenas hold cancer walks or AIDS fundraisers for one another?
Why do we possess rational thought so much higher than animals? Mary Lomahan is only 5 years old but she learned in only one month of Chinese how to write and pronounce the complex characters for the numbers 1-10. Whenever has my cat Bud ever tried to communicate or learn to speak with other mammals? If we evolved from animals then in a matter of time humans will be looked upon the same way we view the dinosaurs. Your life is only a link in the chain of evolution.
In the book of beginnings or Genesis, however, all kinds of life were originally created by God in 6 days. In both the Old and New testaments we learn that God is an eternal, living, all-wise, all-powerful Creator. Instead of life coming from nonliving things, life came from life—the eternally living God.
The 2nd question that needs addressing is why are you here? Do you really fully understand why you exist? Without meaningful goals life is senseless and empty. Lack of purpose leads not only to an unsatisfied life but even to mental disorders. People need a sense of fulfillment and accomplishment in life. Two young men became friends in college. They both had wounds and troubled souls. One started seeking the meaning of life through a Bible study offered on campus while the other felt he could figure things out on his own. Albeit he’s a very intelligent person, he dropped out of a Big Ten University before completing his degree, and has not even up to today really listened to anyone even though his friends tried to help him and pray for him for over 14 years. He cannot hold down a minimum wage job and never married. He suffers greatly with meaninglessness.
On the other hand the other fellow graduated from college, landed a great job, just celebrated 12 years of blissful marriage and has almost 4 children. And on top of all this he also serves his community as a Bible teacher and lay pastor.
Can the difference between these 2 lives come down to one seeking the meaning of life through Bible study? I’d bet my life on it.
Life can be lived apart from meaning but there are real serious consequences one faces when he chooses this route. If this world, in its present state, were all, it would not be worth living for; and the wealth and pleasure of this world, if we had it all , would not be enough to make us happy. From 1970-1999 American’s incomes rose by 16% yet divorce and suicide tripled. Did you know that suicide is more prevalent than homicide—every 16 minutes someone takes his life.
The 3rd question we need to consider is, where are you going? What really comes after death and how can we be really certain of the answer? One thing we can be certain of in this uncertain world is that death will come one day or another, this is a fact of life. Death is uncertain only in that we do not know when or how it will come. But no doubt it will come. What’s after death? Science does not even try to answer this question. Philosophers or religious leaders sometimes speculate that we just stop existing at death or that we will be reincarnated into a butterfly. But they have no proof. So another major question, “where are you going?” cannot be really answered apart from the Bible. The Bible clearly states from the old to the new testament what follows death.
Ecc 12:14 “For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil.” 2 Cor 5:10 “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.” If death is the end of everything what should stop us from living any way we please? Let’s eat, drink & marry as many times as we want for tomorrow we die. Furthermore, what is the purpose of life if death ends it all?
In His word, God told us what the meaning of life is. Ephesians 1:4-5 says "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. 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!"
"And this was his purpose that when the time is right, he will gather us all together ... to be with him in Christ forever!" Eph. 1:10.
God 1st made you to love you, He wants you to be a part of His family & He says that one day He's going to gather everybody who is a part of His family and we're going to live forever with Him.
But we have to be prepared to spend eternity with God which is what life is-- preparation for eternity. You were made to live for eternity. Ecc 3:11 says, "He has set eternity in the hearts of men." You were made to last forever.
Heaven is a perfect place and you have to be perfect to go there. Jesus Christ is the only perfect one and through Him we can go. We put our trust in Him.
You need to use this life, God says, to prepare for all the rest of eternity. YBH? How do I do that?
There are 4 things God wants you to do with your life and this is the purpose of life. First I must read this disclaimer: Beware what I’m about to say is not for the cowardly but is for those who are willing to take a risk and be willing to open a whole new world and experience true life: 1. Get to know God
God wants us to have a relationship with him- not a religion. He wants a genuine and intimate friendship with us. And when we know Christ he doesn’t just take us on to Heaven b/c he has 3 things for us to do:
2. Become like Him. God wants to use everything that happens in your life to build character in you for eternity: Honesty, integrity, thankfulness, love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, self control. God wants to build character in our lives. This has been God's goal from the very beginning. In the first chapter of the Bible, Genesis 1, God says when He created the world, "Let us make man in our image." From the very beginning of time it's been God's plan to make people like Himself -- not little gods, but Godly- having the characteristics of God. We need to understand that so when things are unfair, painful and confusing, then we can realize God is working on making us like Jesus.
3. Practice Serving We will not just lay around and strum harps in heaven. We're going to be working in eternity. And we’ll love it. It will be perfectly suited to you. You'll find fulfillment and meaning in it.
God says you're going to serve in eternity. He wants you to practice serving while you're here for 60,70,80 years. This is the trial run, the dress rehearsal. He wants you, while you're here on earth, to learn to think of other people and not just yourself. He wants you to learn to be a giver and not just a taker.
"God, who made us.. has given us new lives from Christ Jesus; and long ago planned that we should spend these lives in helping others." If you don't do this then you're missing the point of life. God has given you talents and abilities and He wants you to develop them. Meaning in life comes from serving.
4. Share life's purpose with other people.
2 Corinthians 5:19 "This is the wonderful message he has given us to tell others." Why does God leave you here on earth after you become a believer? He wants you to share the good news. What is the purpose of life? To tell others. To share with them God’s love so they too may have the chance to be as blessed as you are. The fact is, you will live for eternity, in one of 2 places. Man was made to last forever. The choices you make here determine that. We call living for eternity with God, heaven. We call living for eternity separated from God, hell. Jesus talked about it and He knows more about it than you or I do. It's real. If you were to die tonight and you haven't already developed a relationship to Jesus Christ, you'll stand before Him and He's going to say "Why not? What were you waiting on? I love you, I created you, I made you for a purpose and you ignored it! I even came to earth and died on the cross for you. But you made your choice. Now you're going to live with it for eternity."
God doesn't send anybody to hell; he gives us a choice. To get into hell you have to do almost the impossible; you have to reject the love of God. Take that first step and begin that relationship with God today.