Psalm 8:4-9 - 4 What is man that You are
mindful of him, And the son of man that You
visit him?5 For You have made him a little
lower than the angels, And You have
crowned him with glory and honor.6 You
have made him to have dominion over the
works of Your hands; You have put all things
under his feet,7 All sheep and oxen—Even
the beasts of the field,8 The birds of the air,
And the fish of the sea That pass through the
paths of the seas.9 O Lord, our Lord, How
excellent is Your name in all the earth!
Why are we here.....what is the purpose behind our
existence.....what is the real meaning of life....can we know
what life is really all about?
A. These questions and variations on these questions
have bothered mankind from ancient times.
1. We may not specifically ask these questions,
but we can identify with them and we
certainly would welcome a valid answer to
them.
In the overall scheme of things, just what is mankind and
how important is the role that he plays?
A. The impact that we, as a race, have on events
is questionable.
1. Ghengis Kahn
2. Atilla the Hun
3. Alexander the Great
4. Julius Caesar
5. Nebecudnezzar
6. Mussolini
7. Adolf Hitler
8. Mao Se Tung (sp.)
a. These men were all great and had life
changing effects on the world of their
day.
1.) But how do they affect us?
a.) Is anyone here scared of
Ghengis Kahn?
b.) Does Alexander the Great
produce awe in your mind?
If the great are forgotten and their impact is blunted by
time........what about you and me?
A. If the accomplishments of these great people...at
the peak of their greatness has little or no bearing
on us, today.......what bearing will our lives have
on future generations?
1. If the great are so temporal....what about the
not-so-great......like you and me?
In this world, today....what has any lasting meaning and
long effect.
A. In other words.....”What is the REAL meaning of
life?”
1. Not as an abstract thought.....what is the
real meaning of life for YOU?
I. Some believe that the important thing....the real meaning
behind our existence might be the pursuit of wisdom and
knowledge.
** Hear a wise man on this subject.....Solomon.
Eccl. 1:16-18 - 16I communed with my heart, saying,
“Look, I have attained greatness, and have gained more
wisdom than all who were before me in Jerusalem. My
heart has understood great wisdom and knowledge.” 17And
I set my heart to know wisdom and to know madness and
folly. I perceived that this also is grasping for the wind.
18 For in much wisdom is much grief,
And he who increases knowledge increases
sorrow.
A. In this passage, Solomon speaks of “vexation”
as being connected with wisdom and knowledge.
1. They can vex the heart of man because they
are liquid.
a. Knowledge and wisdom that comes from
anything except God and His word....is
always changing.
1.) The knowledge of mankind is
relative to and dependent upon
time, place, and the prejudice of
the one recording “truth”.
2. They can also vex the soul and heart of man
in the same way that Adam and Even were
undone with wisdom and knowledge.
Gen. 3:4 - 4Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will
not surely die. 5“For God knows that in the day you eat of
it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God,
knowing good and evil.”
a. This knowledge that God was keeping
from them (knowledge of good and evil...
innocence) was a knowledge that He
knew would destroy them.
1.) Sometimes things are best left
unknown.
a.) It’s only our vanity and
curiosity which drive us to
know everything that there is
to know.
** Too bad the human urge doesn’t work this strongly in
the things of God.
1. In sort, then, we may become vexed by the things
that we learn.
B. This knowledge is also called “vanity” by
Solomon.
1. The knowledge of mankind is vain, because
of our limited capabilities.
a. We can never come to an end of the
knowledge that is present in God’s
creation........only God can understand
everything.......when we try to understand
everything, we simply confirm our
limited abilities.
1.) In other words, the more that we
know.....the more frustrated we
become with what we don’t know.
** Humans of our day and age, probably have as much
pride in our achievements in space exploration as Eric
the Red’s generation had in his accomplishments, or
Queen Isabella had in Christopher Columbus’ feats.
1. Oh what puny steps of knowledge.
a. Hear the Apostle Paul as he addresses those
who think wisdom and knowledge are the
real meaning of life.
II Tim. 3:7 - 7always learning and never able to come to
the knowledge of the truth.
1.) Knowledge and Wisdom....outside of
God....are as flowing and unsure as a
drop of water in the ocean.
II. Others pursue the real meaning in life through their
quest for real happiness.
** Again, hear Solomon on this issue.
Eccl. 2:1-2 - 1I said in my heart, “Come now, I will test
you with mirth; therefore enjoy pleasure”; but surely, this
also was vanity. 2I said of laughter—“Madness!”; and of
mirth, “What does it accomplish?”
A. To be happy all of the time would have to be
artificial...un-natural....un-real.
1. If we were always happy and had no cares
or concerns.....why would we want to
depend upon God?
a. What could He provide for us if we had
ultimate happiness here on this Earth?
B. Being as total happiness in this life is an illusive
dream....to pursue total happiness in this life is to
chase after the unattainable.
1. Again, we only set ourselves up to be dis-
appointed, discouraged, depressed, and
frustrated.
a. All of this is just the opposite of true
happiness.
** In a person’s drive and quest for happiness.....outside
of the Christian life.....he simply reaps the opposite.....
sorrow and vexation.
C. Reality dictates that sorrow happens to all of us
at one time or another.
Eccl. 7:3-4 - 3 Sorrow is better than laughter, For by a
sad countenance the heart is made better.4 The heart of
the wise is in the house of mourning, But the heart of fools
is in the house of mirth.
1. To seek only after laughter and happiness is
to be like one who would pursue the wind.
a. Not only is it unattainable......it isn’t even
good for us.
III. Many think that the real meaning of life can be found
in the works of our hands.
Eccl. 2:4-11 - 4I made my works great, I built myself
houses, and planted myself vineyards. 5I made myself
gardens and orchards, and I planted all kinds of fruit trees
in them. 6I made myself water pools from which to water
the growing trees of the grove. 7I acquired male and female
servants, and had servants born in my house. Yes, I had
greater possessions of herds and flocks than all who were
in Jerusalem before me. 8I also gathered for myself silver
and gold and the special treasures of kings and of the
provinces. I acquired male and female singers, the delights
of the sons of men, and musical instruments of all kinds.
9So I became great and excelled more than all who were
before me in Jerusalem. Also my wisdom remained with
me.
10 Whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from
them.
I did not withhold my heart from any pleasure,
For my heart rejoiced in all my labor;
And this was my reward from all my labor.
11 Then I looked on all the works that my hands
had done
And on the labor in which I had toiled;
And indeed all was vanity and grasping for the
wind.
There was no profit under the sun.
Eccl. 2:18-23 - 18Then I hated all my labor in which I had
toiled under the sun, because I must leave it to the man
who will come after me. 19And who knows whether he will
be wise or a fool? Yet he will rule over all my labor in
which I toiled and in which I have shown myself wise
under the sun. This also is vanity. 20Therefore I turned my
heart and despaired of all the labor in which I had toiled
under the sun. 21For there is a man whose labor is with
wisdom, knowledge, and skill; yet he must leave his
heritage to a man who has not labored for it. This also is
vanity and a great evil. 22For what has man for all his
labor, and for the striving of his heart with which he has
toiled under the sun? 23For all his days are sorrowful, and
his work burdensome; even in the night his heart takes no
rest. This also is vanity.
A. I think that the scriptures indicate to us that of
all the empty things that can be pursued by
mankind.....this is by far.....THE EMPTIEST!!!!
1. The product of all of our labors will actually
be someone else’s.
a. The wisdom of a lifetime in the building
of an estate can be wasted in a moment.
b. The value that we have placed upon what
we have built may even be looked upon
with disdain by those who come after us.
c. Indeed.....even before what we have
amassed can be swallowed up by
someone else......it may rot away to
nothing. It may become of no real value.
B. In a related vein, we look at the acquisition of
wealth.
Eccl. 5:10, 12-16 - 10 He who loves silver will
not be satisfied with silver;
Nor he who loves abundance, with increase.
This also is vanity.12 The sleep of a laboring
man is sweet,
Whether he eats little or much;
But the abundance of the rich will not permit
him to sleep.
13 There is a severe evil which I have seen under
the sun:
Riches kept for their owner to his hurt.
14 But those riches perish through misfortune;
When he begets a son, there is nothing in his
hand.
15 As he came from his mother’s womb, naked
shall he return,
To go as he came;
And he shall take nothing from his labor
Which he may carry away in his hand.
16 And this also is a severe evil—
Just exactly as he came, so shall he go.
And what profit has he who has labored for the
wind?
1. The acquiring of wealth can easily become an
insatiable disease which will control a
person’s whole life.
a. No matter how much one has, there is
still more that must be attained.
1.) There is no contentment and
satisfaction......only a life of
frustration and unfulfillment.
2. The amassing of wealth can also be as unsure
as a pile of straw in a windstorm.....time and
circumstance can render all the wealth of the
world useless.
Ex. - WWI, WWII....German Mark.
a. There will come a day when the Lord
shall return........on this day all material
wealth and possessions will become
totally and forever useless.
IV. Finally.....perhaps the real meaning of life is life, itself.
Eccl. 9:12 - 12 For man also does not know his time:
Like fish taken in a cruel net, Like birds caught in a snare,
So the sons of men are snared in an evil time, When it falls
suddenly upon them.
Eccl. 12:7 - 7 Then the dust will return to the earth as it
was, And the spirit will return to God who gave it.
A. Why would mankind try to control that over which
has no control?
1. Cancer can......and probably will.....strike
the majority of us in this room.
a. What are you going to do about it!!!!
1.) Some try to eat their way to health
and fight cancer with food.
2.) Some look to the doctors with a
great deal of misplaced trust.
3.) Even others stick their heads in the
sand and just simply ignore the
possibility.
a.) In truth, their are only two
things you can do.....1. Draw
near to God. 2. Buy a good
insurance policy.
2. Heart attacks kill people.....apparently healthy
people.....even people who jog every day.
3. Car accidents kill......not only the old die, but
children die, as well.
** If life is so fragile and so elusive and so uncontrollable,
why would we think that the answer to life is living
in this fleshly body?
1. Certainly prudence in how we live is right and
proper......but how we eat, where we live, what
road we drive on, the brand name of the airline
we fly, or any other thing WILL NOT ALTER
GOD’S PLAN FOR US!!!
Heb. 9:27 - 27And as it is appointed for men to die once,
but after this the judgment.
CONCLUSION:
The truth is.....we don’t really want to hear Solomon in his
conclusions because we have so many important things to
do and our vanity makes us want to think that we really
matter because of these important things.
A. I just wonder how all of those important things
will affect you as you see Jesus coming in the
clouds.
1. What will the value of a dollar bill or a
hundred dollar bill be on that day.
2. What will the value of a nice two story
brick home......in the right part of town....
be on that day.
3. How valuable will that job be.....you know....
the job in which you think you’re
indispensable.
When you die.....how many of those important things and
issues will go with you into eternity?
A. Can we not learn from others....can we not learn
from sight if not from faith.
1. It has been said.....but it bears repeating....
“There are no pockets in a shroud”
Eccl. 12:9-14 - 9And moreover, because the Preacher
was wise, he still taught the people knowledge; yes, he
pondered and sought out and set in order many proverbs.
10The Preacher sought to find acceptable words; and what
was written was upright—words of truth.
11The words of the wise are like goads, and the words of
scholars are like well-driven nails, given by one Shepherd.
12And further, my son, be admonished by these. Of making
many books there is no end, and much study is wearisome
to the flesh.
13Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter:
Fear God and keep His commandments,
For this is man’s all.
