Go! And Discover The God-Shaped Eternity In Your Heart - Ecclesiastes 3:11 Series

Go! And Discover the God-Shaped Eternity in Your Heart - Ecclesiastes 3:11

Introduction

Church, let me begin by reading the Word of God:

“Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end.”

— Ecclesiastes 3:11 (NLT)

Have you ever stood on the edge of the sea, gazed at the horizon, and felt that deep ache inside? That longing for something more, something beyond this world? You couldn’t quite put it into words, but you knew—it was there. That is what Solomon means when he says God has planted eternity in the human heart.

In this message, in our “Go! And…” series, I want us to see this: God has placed within you a longing that only Jesus Christ can satisfy.

This world offers distractions, temporary fixes, shallow pleasures. But deep inside, your soul cries for eternity. And that eternity has a name—His name is Jesus.

1. God Has Planted Eternity in the Human Heart

The Hebrew word Solomon uses for eternity is ?????? (olam). It means “forever, everlasting, beyond the vanishing point.” God has placed within us an awareness that life is not just about here and now, but about something eternal.

But here is the tragedy: mankind often misinterprets this longing. We chase success, possessions, relationships, careers, pleasures. But none of these truly satisfy. Augustine once prayed, “You have made us for Yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in You.”

John Piper explains it like this: “The human heart was designed to find its ultimate satisfaction in God, not in the things of earth. If you try to satisfy your soul with the world, you destroy it.” Piper is right—the ache of eternity cannot be silenced with temporary things.

Psalm 42:1–2 (NLT) – “As the deer longs for streams of water, so I long for you, O God. I thirst for God, the living God. When can I go and stand before him?”

David captures the cry of every heart: a thirst only God can quench.

Imagine a child at the seaside, filling a bucket with sand and saying, “Look, I’ve captured the beach!” No matter how much he gathers, he hasn’t captured the ocean. That’s us trying to fill the eternal hole in our hearts with temporary things.

2. We Cannot See the Whole Scope of God’s Work

Solomon says, “But even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end.”

This is humbling. God is infinite; we are finite. The Hebrew word for scope carries the idea of totality, the big picture. We only see fragments, moments in time.

Paul echoes this in 1 Corinthians 13:12 (NLT): “Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity.”

We walk by faith, not by sight. The Greek word Paul uses for “mirror” is esoptron—like a dim, polished piece of bronze, not a clear modern mirror. Our perspective is blurred.

Charles Stanley once said, “Our inability to see God’s full plan is not a failure on His part but a call to trust Him.”

Church, that is so true. Trusting God when we don’t understand is an act of faith. And that faith points us to Jesus, who embodies the fullness of God’s plan.

Think of a tapestry. On the underside, it looks like a tangled mess of knots and threads. But when you turn it over, you see the beautiful design. Right now, in this life, we live on the underside. But God sees the completed masterpiece.

3. Jesus Christ: The Fulfilment of Our Eternal Longing

Solomon saw the problem—eternity in the heart, yet an inability to grasp the whole. The solution comes in Jesus Christ.

Jesus declared in John 14:6 (NLT): “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.”

Here’s the truth: Eternity is not just a concept; eternity is a Person—Jesus Christ.

The Greek word for “life” here is zoe—not just existence, but fullness of life, eternal life. Jesus is the only one who satisfies the eternity within us.

John 10:10 (NLT): “My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.”

Romans 6:23 (NLT): “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Max Lucado wrote, “Your heart is a suitcase, and eternity is too big to fit. Only God can pack it right.” He’s right—you cannot carry eternity with human effort; you need the eternal Saviour.

4. A Gospel-Centred Call

Let’s be clear: our problem is not just longing—it is sin. Sin is what separates us from God. The Bible says in Romans 3:23 (NLT): “For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.”