God's Gift Of Life
Ecclesiastes: God's Love In A Broken World • Sermon • Submitted
0 ratings
· 6 viewsNotes
Transcript
Handout
Handout
Good morning church!
Last week we finished up chapter eight and looked at God’s Provision, Peace, and Protection.
It looks like we are really going to need all of that this week.
I love all the memes that are out there this weekend on the two storms that are headed this way.
Keep in mind this week that God isn’t surprised by 2020.
The world seems to be falling apart, but we are going to be okay.
There are plenty of things going in the world that we could panic about.
God has a word for us this morning regarding our perspective on life.
Let’s jump into chapter nine.
1 Indeed, I took all this to heart and explained it all: The righteous, the wise, and their works are in God’s hands. People don’t know whether to expect love or hate. Everything lies ahead of them.
2 Everything is the same for everyone: There is one fate for the righteous and the wicked, for the good and the bad, for the clean and the unclean, for the one who sacrifices and the one who does not sacrifice. As it is for the good, so also it is for the sinner; as it is for the one who takes an oath, so also for the one who fears an oath.
3 This is an evil in all that is done under the sun: there is one fate for everyone. In addition, the hearts of people are full of evil, and madness is in their hearts while they live; after that they go to the dead.
God is in control of the lives of the wise and righteous, and everything they do.
God is in control of the lives of the wise and righteous, and everything they do.
All of us face the same fate.
We will all die and how we live our lives makes no difference.
The end is the same for all of us.
This does not imply determinism that prevents human freedom or responsibility.
We are all given the opportunity to choose how to live our lives.
What this passage is telling us is that it, whether we are right with God or not, won’t change the fact of death.
How we live, does make a difference in the quality of this life and what comes after death.
We will discuss this more at the end of this message.
24 There is nothing better for a person than to eat, drink, and enjoy his work. I have seen that even this is from God’s hand,
25 because who can eat and who can enjoy life apart from him?
26 For to the person who is pleasing in his sight, he gives wisdom, knowledge, and joy; but to the sinner he gives the task of gathering and accumulating in order to give to the one who is pleasing in God’s sight. This too is futile and a pursuit of the wind.
This is an overarching truth in the midst of uncertain times.
I can’t speak for you, but for me, there is so much peace in knowing that God is in control.
Yes, we have COVID going on, and yes, we have two hurricanes headed this way, but God is still working in the lives of His people.
What an amazing thing for us to know and to be able to share with others.
We assume that by saying that God is in control, that He won’t let anything bad happen.
Everybody knows that hard times come and go.
Because we live in a world full of sin, we also live with the consequences of sin.
Sin is the reality that we live in and it is in every one of us.
5 When the Lord saw that human wickedness was widespread on the earth and that every inclination of the human mind was nothing but evil all the time,
21 When the Lord smelled the pleasing aroma, he said to himself, “I will never again curse the ground because of human beings, even though the inclination of the human heart is evil from youth onward. And I will never again strike down every living thing as I have done.
Sin affects all of us, both our own sin and the sins of others.
God’s control over our lives is determined by how much control we choose to allow.
God does not force Himself upon us, but He created us to be in relationship with Him and that is what He wants.
Whether you believe in God or not, determines how you see the hard times.
For those that know God and allow Him to be in control, we experience God’s peace, provision, and protection in the midst of the difficult.
We will all have hurricanes pass over us.
But my perspective and therefore peace will be different than a person that doesn’t know God.
Because I understand that this life is Hevel, even when my home is damaged, I know that it is temporary.
I need a house to live in, but it is not the most important thing in my life.
For someone that doesn’t understand God, their home may be the most important thing in their life and its harm is world-shattering.
Our literal experience may be exactly the same, but our response can be completely different because of our perspective on life.
Our lives are valuable.
Our lives are valuable.
4 But there is hope for whoever is joined with all the living, since a live dog is better than a dead lion.
5 For the living know that they will die, but the dead don’t know anything. There is no longer a reward for them because the memory of them is forgotten.
6 Their love, their hate, and their envy have already disappeared, and there is no longer a portion for them in all that is done under the sun.
With all the talk of everything being hevel, there is a tendency to wonder why we even bother.
Have you found yourself asking why we go through all of this if we are going to die and be forgotten?
The preacher asks that very question in a number of ways throughout this book.
At the very beginning, he asks if there is an advantage.
3 What does a person gain for all his efforts that he labors at under the sun?
When he says labor, he is referring to all the things that must be done in order to stay alive.
There is an advantage to one’s life.
Our very lives are the gift and are the gain from our labor.
We were created for life, not for death.
We weren’t born to die.
Death is the result of sin in the world.
How do we reconcile this with Paul’s proclamation that to live is for Christ, but to die is gain?
The very fact that we are alive is a gift from God.
Life is not a future reward.
It is what we should experience now, while we are alive and able to appreciate it.
When we do pass away, we will not spend eternity reflecting on this life.
We will be focused on the God whom’s presence we are enjoying.
It is easy for us to get wrapped up in what is going wrong and forget the blessing that life is.
There are many of us that are wading through difficulties right now.
The Normans - house fire/flood.
The Glasscocks - have had a host of frustrating little things going on recently.
Covid -
Laura and Marco - double hurricanes that are going to cross paths over Louisiana.
Yes, life is hard sometimes, but when we know that God is in control and that when bad things happen that he can use it to our benefit, the particular circumstances we find ourselves in look different.
We will see this at the end of this section, but we need to understand that life is for now.
There are no efforts from the grave.
We only get one life. YOLO
We need to redefine how we hear that phrase.
I know it’s a bit outdated right now, but I bet most of you know exactly what it means.
Instead of living our one life in a way that culture would define, let’s live it in the joy that comes from living with God.
Our Bible belt culture painted a picture that you either live in the world or you live opposed to it.
It created this image of either sin/fun or God/no fun.
The preacher is telling us that this is terrible perspective on life.
God created us to live and gave us all that we needed to enjoy it with Him.
God wants us to enjoy the time we have on earth by spending that time in the perfect joy found in obedience.
How has living in obedience brought joy into your life?
Once we die, it’s all over for us.
We cannot and should not waste our lives worrying about and building up things that won’t last.
10 Whatever your hands find to do, do with all your strength, because there is no work, planning, knowledge, or wisdom in Sheol where you are going.
This is our one shot.
Would it be wise to listen to temporary people, that don’t know God, about how to enjoy life, or would it be better to listen to the one that created both life and joy?
I know which one I want to listen too.
God intends for us to enjoy life.
God intends for us to enjoy life.
7 Go, eat your bread with pleasure, and drink your wine with a cheerful heart, for God has already accepted your works.
8 Let your clothes be white all the time, and never let oil be lacking on your head.
9 Enjoy life with the wife you love all the days of your fleeting life, which has been given to you under the sun, all your fleeting days. For that is your portion in life and in your struggle under the sun.
10 Whatever your hands find to do, do with all your strength, because there is no work, planning, knowledge, or wisdom in Sheol where you are going.
I know that this is a shock, but God really wants us to love being alive.
If He didn’t want that for us, why would he have created us?
Have you considered that He created us with these bodies, with these needs, with the ability to think and reason?
We were purposefully and lovingly made the way we are.
Because God is a good, loving God, we can know and feel that He takes pleasure in our joy.
Here is the thing though, about enjoying life.
We can only enjoy life while we are alive.
Duh right, but think about how often we choose sin over righteousness because we believe we have plenty of time to “get right with God”.
We are living as if the pleasures of the world is the best there is.
I’m proposing that we have greatly misunderstood what it means to be joyful.
We have bought into the lie that we can either have fun or God, but not both.
The preacher is dispelling that lie.
This is an incredible message for us to share with the world that is primed for seeking what brings happiness.
Culture teaches us to pursue what brings pleasure and we know and can share with people the source of all happiness.
We can only do that if we are experiencing it.
Where do you go for relaxation and enjoyment?
Do you seek God or the things of the world?
How are you challenged by verses 7-10?
Joy is found in God and His provision.
It doesn’t even matter what we are doing or how much we have, joy is there because God is there.
Even in the most basic things for life, like eating, God has made that necessity enjoyable.
Enjoyment of our meals is a basic advantage for the wise regardless of the amount or quality of the food.
8 Better a little with righteousness than great income with injustice.
1 Better a dry crust with peace than a house full of feasting with strife.
14 He causes grass to grow for the livestock and provides crops for man to cultivate, producing food from the earth,
15 wine that makes human hearts glad— making his face shine with oil— and bread that sustains human hearts.
It’s not about the food and the wine, it’s about God.
Consider the diet of every other living thing.
We are unique in how we eat and what we can eat.
There is no other living creature that has a palate like we do.
God created us to be able to find great joy and pleasure in consuming fuel.
That is love, to take the mundane and make it extraordinary.
On top of the gift of being able to enjoy what we are eating, He makes it better by choosing to join us in that activity.
I love that many of the most significant moments in Jesus’ ministry revolved around eating.
The way Jesus gave us to remember Him and what He has done for us in restoring what sin destroyed involves what?
Eating bread and drinking wine.
It is His presence that makes all things truly enjoyable.
God continues to bless us by not only providing fuel for our bodies, but He gives us more to make life enjoyable.
He also makes room in our lives for us to relax, take care of our bodies, and enjoy one another.
8 Let your clothes be white all the time, and never let oil be lacking on your head.
9 Enjoy life with the wife you love all the days of your fleeting life, which has been given to you under the sun, all your fleeting days. For that is your portion in life and in your struggle under the sun.
This isn’t a recommendation that we wear only white, the preacher is communicating that it is God’s desire that we are able to spend some time relaxing and take care of ourselves.
As a side note, this isn’t permission to live lazily just like a recommendation to enjoy wine isn’t encouragement to become drunk.
God took a rest on the seventh day.
He took time to look at all that He created and to enjoy it.
God not only gives that to us, but He commands that we do the same.
We are to take one day a week to take time to reflect on all that He has done and is doing.
It is good for our bodies, minds, and spirits to take time to rest.
There are six other days in which we can enjoy our work, but once a week we need to rest from the work and spend that day enjoying the gifts of God.
God’s intent for that day is that we spend that day with Him, letting Him give us proper prospective on His gifts.
He also gives us special people in our lives that we can enjoy life with.
9 Enjoy life with the wife you love all the days of your fleeting life, which has been given to you under the sun, all your fleeting days. For that is your portion in life and in your struggle under the sun.
In discussing verse 9, I want to say that the preacher is a man, and is writing to a male audience.
We need to understand that his encouragement is for us to enjoy our spouses.
Husbands can be enjoyed too, ladies.
If you are single and have not yet found yourself in this stage in life, there is encouragement here for you too.
Don’t zone out if you aren’t yet married.
There is a lot that can be covered in this one verse, but I want to just point out a few things.
To help give some perspective on verse nine, let’s flip back to creation of man and woman.
18 Then the Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper corresponding to him.”
It is God’s plan for us to have a help-mate. Someone that we can walk through the ups and downs of life with.
If you have not yet found yours, I want you to hear me say that you are loved and God has not forgotten or forsaken you.
There are a number of people in my life that are single and not because they are choosing to be.
I want you to know that I talk to God about this on a regular basis and join you in praying for your future spouse.
Remember that our idea of time and God’s are different.
Trust God and His timing for He is faithful and, as we have just discussed, He desires your enjoyment in life.
If you are married, God has gifted you with a person that can walk through life with, and enjoy your days on this earth.
God gave us spouses to help us to understand what it means to be complete.
The root word in “corresponding” means to inform, give evidence, to provide and explanation.
Our spouses are a tangible way to understand the completeness that can be found in God.
I can’t speak for you, but I can tell you that my life became exponentially better when God gave me a wife.
I have yet to experience anything on earth that is even comparable to the love and companionship that is found in marriage.
I have had lot’s of great friends, but they all pale in comparison to my wife.
I know I’m not alone in feeling that way about my spouse.
Marriage is a gift from God.
He gave us that union as a yet another way to enjoy our time on earth.
We should not take it for granted or see it as anything but the blessing that God intended it to be.
I say all of this to say that we have a message that the world desperately needs right now.
The world is convinced that to live for God is to give-up a fulfilled life.
I’m saying and the preacher is saying that life is found in God, not apart from Him.
There is no greater joy or fulfillment in this world than to live with God and for God.
In Him, you will find all you will ever want or need.
Even in the midst of hardship, you will feel His peace and presence.
10 Whatever your hands find to do, do with all your strength, because there is no work, planning, knowledge, or wisdom in Sheol where you are going.
This is the only shot we get.
This life is our opportunity to enjoy the gift of life on earth.
Once we die, and we all will, this life is over.
We don’t reboot and come back as someone else.
There are no do-overs.
It is wise to live life to the fullest, in obedience to God.
That is where we find fullness, in our relationship with God.
Let’s spend our lives, pouring ourselves out at the feet of God and receiving the joy that comes only in living with Him.
God has given all of us a call, a job to do, but it is not His desire that we do it apart from Him.
We will only be successful in working in His power and we will only truly enjoy it in His presence.
Our lives are meant to be spent with God in all that we do while we are on earth.
Unfortunately, we are born into sin and separated from God by that sin.
Jesus came to repair what we broke in our disobedience.
We have the knowledge and experiences in life to be able to share with others the key to truly enjoying life.
