Time and Eternity

Time and Eternity already has been; that which is to be, already has been; and God seeks what has been driven away. Ecclesiastes 3 October 3, 2021 The Big Idea: God’s big, beautiful plan for our lives includes every kind of positive and negative experiences. The painful and confusing ones are a part of His mercy, intended to drive us toward God. You are made for so much more than yourself and the pleasures you crave. You are made for God’s pleasure, His glory, and for eternity. What We Need to Know in Order to Make Sense of Ecclesiastes: ü ü ü Don’t read Ecclesiastes in isolation from the rest of the Bible. It asks more questions and raises more dilemmas than it offers answers. Remember that is more of a journal of one man’s search than a roadmap of how to get to purpose for your life. Read properly, Ecclesiastes will send you on a quest for understanding of the meaning of your life. 3 THINGS GOD HAS DONE WHICH WILL CHANGE YOUR LIFE: 1. He designed you, placed a burden on you, and now guides you through events that come in seasons and at certain times. [Ecclesiastes 3:1] 2. Every moment of your life comes through the Father’s hands. There is a beauty in His purposes. [Ecclesiastes 3:11] 3. He made you for more than just time – you are created for Him and for Eternity. [Ecclesiastes 3:11] THE PURPOSES OF YOUR LIFE: Ecclesiastes 3 (ESV) ü You are made for God’s pleasure [Genesis 1:31; Psalm 104:31] For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: ü You are made for God’s glory [Isaiah 43:7; Colossians 1:16] 3 1 What gain has the worker from his toil? 10 I have seen the business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with. 11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end. 12 I perceived that there is nothing better for them than to be joyful and to do good as long as they live; 13 also that everyone should eat and drink and take pleasure in all his toil—this is God’s gift to man. 9 I perceived that whatever God does endures forever; nothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it. God has done it, so that people fear before him. 15 That which is, 14 ü You are made for Eternity [Ecclesiastes 3:11] PROPER RESPONSES TO THE LORD: 1. Find joy and pleasure in God’s good gifts. He gave them to you. 2. Do not despise the seasons full of hard days and winter nights. Let them drive you to Jesus. 3. Don’t spend so much of your energy battling the events of “seasons and times” that you miss Eternity. 4. Accept the futility of trying to help out the Lord by adding or subtracting from His work. Rest in His goodness and completeness. “Thou hast made us for thyself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it finds its rest in thee.” Augustine