Ecclesiastes: Part Two

Last time we were together, we looked at the book of Ecclesiastes. Ecclesiastes, remember, is the speech Solomon gave before the people of Israel. In this speech, he looked out over his life and confessed his discoveries with the people he ruled over. His message, in essence, was, “You are born once, and then you die, forgotten for all eternity, returning to the dirt from whence you came. Between birth and death, you live a life of constant suffering with occasional moments of happiness. So try and enjoy yourself, but fear GOD, because one day you will be judged for the kind of life you live.” Let us remember, however, that this is Solomon’s perspective. The reason Ecclesiastes is such a hard book for a Christian to read is because it conflicts with the truths discovered in Christ; when Jesus says, “There is meaning in life,” Solomon says, “There is none.” When Christ says, “There is a purpose to life,” Solomon says, “There is none.” When Christ says, “Satisfaction can be discovered in this life,” Solomon says, “There’s no such thing as satisfaction.” Solomon’s perspective is the perspective of one without hope, the perspective of one fresh from the womb: when we enter in this world, we enter into the world of Solomon—a life of suffering with occasional moments of happiness, a life devoid of purpose and meaning, a life that is entirely depressing.

Christ offers us something so much more. He offers us hope of something better—in this life and the next.

Why is life so depressing, as Solomon discovered? The answer is found in Ecclesiastes 3.11, where Solomon says, “GOD has set eternity into the hearts of men.” GOD designed humans for a beautiful, never-ending existence; yet we live lives of suffering where we die and are forgotten. The reason for our pain, then, a pain that other animals do not experience, the reason why life is so hard and depressing and empty is this, and it’s borderline heretical: GOD made it this way. He designed us for so much more, yet we are held back from it. “GOD is a sadist,” someone says. “He is a cruel God, delighting in watching His creation suffer.” I disagree: according to the scriptures, GOD created us like this and gave us a satisfying life; we are the ones who chose to disengage from the beautiful life GOD designed for us.

Genesis 1 and 2 describes the creation of our universe, climaxing in the creation of man, mankind being GOD’s most prized and precious possession. The type of literature in the creation account, up through Genesis 11, is a special type of literature we don’t really have today. In ancient times, historians would add a sort of “prologue” to their histories, a prologue consisting of oral tales and legends. Genesis 1-11 is chocked full of these tales and legends. The reason for this “prologue” is to “set the scene” for the histories; the author of Genesis probably wrote the “prologue” to give a sense of national identity to the Israelites and to “fill in the gaps” where the absolute truth is a mystery. The “prologue” of Genesis 1-11 is not to be taken literally; for all we know, up to half of the actual events did not even take place! This is frightening to a lot of Christians, but it does not harm the Christian faith at all. The “prologue” of Genesis 1-11 is, however, much different than the other ancient prologues: it depicts a single God (Yahweh), while other prologues depict pagan gods; it shows the growing power of sin alongside the growing potency of grace; it places GOD at the center of the universe and as ruler over all things. Whether these stories are mythical tales and legends, or whether they are literal stories in history, this remains the same: GOD is God, and He created mankind to live in union with Him, one another, and with creation.

Here are my (heretical) beliefs on the subject: I believe in evolution. I believe that GOD guided evolution, and through evolution designed the universe. I believe that a mammal called homo sapien evolved, and then GOD took this creature and “breathed divinity” into it. He prized homo sapiens as the pinnacle of His creation (although woman is the pinnacle!). He took this creature endowed with the breath of divinity and placed it in the Garden. I believe the Garden of Eden symbolizes the way GOD designed us: we were designed to be connected with GOD, connected with one another, and connected with creation. This is what the scriptures call the “Glory of GOD.” As one theologian put it, “The Glory of GOD is man-alive in the Garden of Eden.” When we lived in the Garden, we lived lives of purpose, lives empty of suffering, beautiful and good and satisfying lives.

Romans 3.23 tells us, “Mankind fell from the glory of GOD.” GOD breathed divinity into us, but He did not erase the animal nature within us, a nature that is selfish, greedy, and indifferent (humanists see this as the human nature, scripture speaks of this as the sinful nature). The animal nature drew us to disobey GOD in sin, and we were cast from the “glory of GOD.” One of GOD’s enemies, Lucifer (remember the serpent in Genesis 3? The Hebrew word is nahash, which is also the word used in Ezekiel to describe the polymorph angels, or shape-shifters: the story here involves a shape-shifting angel coming to the humans, arousing their animal natures, and deceiving them into sin; there is no literal snake here!) deceived humanity and drew us into sin. When mankind let the animal nature take over, when mankind gave the thumbs-up to selfishness, greed, and indifference, mankind gave the boot to GOD. The result? We were kicked out of the Garden—we were kicked out of the “Glory of GOD,” a life of connection with GOD, one another, and creation, a life of purpose and meaning and satisfaction. We abandoned GOD’s way of life and embraced an empty, meaningless, painful existence.

We gave GOD the boot, but GOD did not completely cut us off from Him. GOD loves us—really loves us and likes us and wants to be with us—so He devised a plan. He made a covenant with the descendants of a pagan man named Abraham; yes, Abraham was a pagan, but GOD showed Him that He is the only God, and Abraham followed Him. GOD made a covenant with Abraham and His descendants, and this covenant is understood as the Law: the covenant was this: GOD says, “Fear Me, keep My commandments, and live at peace with one another.” It didn’t really work out; the people failed over and over and over. So why an old covenant? It pointed the way to a need for something grander, something greater. The “Glory of GOD” was not experienced under the old covenant, but it pointed ahead to a Messiah who would make the “Glory of GOD” a reality again.

2000 years ago, a new covenant came into being. A Jewish Rabbi named Jesus, who was born in Bethlehem and raised in Nazareth, took the scriptures under the old covenant and showed how they pointed to Him. He caused division, and the power-pushers who had leverage with the Roman government had Him executed on a cross. The cross, though cruel and wicked and evil, accomplished Jesus’ mission. Jesus’ mission is not the forgiveness of sins; it is the restoration of the “Glory of GOD,” allowing humanity to experience connection with GOD, connection with others, and connection with creation again (in the scriptures, this is called the “Kingdom of GOD”). The practical implications of the return of the “Glory of GOD” is seen in the new life people have through Christ and in the new community experienced in Christ.

The scriptures tell us that Jesus brings life to the people who embrace Him. This life is a restoration of communion with GOD: we can experience intimacy with GOD, we can live in a walking/talking relationship with Him, living life with Him, enjoying a conversational relationship with Him (sadly, a lot of Christians do not experience this intimacy because they do not take the time to cultivate it!). In this new life, not only are we able to experience connection with GOD, but we enjoy a new way of doing life. Jesus’ teachings did not reveal to us anything radically new: rather, His teachings show us what life was like before the Fall (life in the “Glory of GOD”), and Jesus says, “Live the ‘Glory of GOD’!” Life in the “Glory of GOD” is a life of selflessness, sacrifice, serving others, being humble, and being kind—the essence of love. This new life is not perfect: we are still creatures with animal natures, and we still sin, but GOD’s forgiveness through the cross enables us to experience intimacy with GOD despite our sin (though we do make an effort to repent!).

The scriptures tell us that Jesus has brought a new community to the earth, a community comprised of all the people of the earth. This community called the “Church,” and it brings back the essence of what community was like in the “Glory of GOD,” the community that GOD designed us to live in. It is a community of belonging, acceptance, love, and friendship. Sadly, disharmony is everywhere in the Church: this is because despite our slow transformation and our desire to live a life of love with everyone we come into contact with, the selfish, greedy, and indifferent animal nature still influences us.

Solomon said, “There is no satisfaction in life.” Jesus says, “There is satisfaction in life: it is found in Me!” In John 10.10, Jesus says, “The Enemy comes to steal, kill, and destroy, but I have come to bring life, and life to the fullest!” The Enemy is evil: it steals life from us, destroys and ruins and wrecks our lives, and it kills us in every way imaginable; Jesus has a new life, a life of intimacy with GOD and intimacy with one another, and satisfaction is found in following Him and living in the kingdom of GOD, engaging this new life and new community.

Solomon said, “There is no purpose in this life,” but Jesus says, “There is a purpose.” In Matthew 28.18-20, Jesus says, “GOD authorized and commanded me to commission you: Go out and train everyone you meet, far and near, in this way of life, marking them by baptism in the threefold name: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Then instruct them in the practice of all I have commanded you. I’ll be with you as you do this, day after day after day, right up to the end of the age.” (the Message) Our purpose is advancing the kingdom of GOD, advancing the “Glory of GOD” through all the ends of the earth (this is called evangelism). This doesn’t just happen in church buildings or African deserts: it happens in schools, workplaces, and out on the streets, in everyday conversation, in joining people in their laughter and weeping, in friendship and laughter and love.

Jesus has said, “There is satisfaction in this life,” but yet we find that suffering still happens. If you look in the scriptures, GOD’s favorites seem to be used and abused (Isaiah was sawed in half by King Manasseh!) while GOD’s enemies flourish; yet even in their suffering, joy and life is found. The scriptures tell us that we experience this new life and new community—this kingdom of GOD—as if it were a shadow; it is now but not yet, here but not complete. One day Jesus will come back, and those who have embraced Him in the kingdom of GOD will be restored to the Garden of Eden, restored to the “Glory of GOD”: we will live lives of satisfaction, purpose, and meaning in a new universe; in this new universe, we will live good and beautiful lives in communion with GOD, one another, and with creation (Lucifer tried to screw things up, but GOD cleverly made things better again). And what about those who decided not to embrace Christ? They will suffer for their rebellion, and then when their suffering is complete, they will be destroyed, truly forgotten. Heaven and Hell are continuations of the lives we live now: if we decide life now, we will reap it now and into eternity; if we decide death (evil) now, we will reap death in this life and death in eternity.

We are flowers quickly fading, but we can experience satisfaction in this life in Christ and in His community, and we have a purpose and a meaning to life: advancing GOD’s kingdom. Solomon says, “Life is empty and meaningless.” Yes—if you are without Christ. Solomon says, “After death, there is nothing.” He is wrong: if we embrace Christ, our earthly deaths do not serve as endings, but they serve as transitions: transitions into a new universe! Yet if we disregard Christ, our deaths serve as endings: we are condemned to suffer for our rebellion, and then we will experience total destruction.