Finding Life's Meaning
We examine the fact here that every aspect of life, was here before we came. Everything will remain after we are gone. No matter what you might accomplish in this life, it's only for a season. Now that we have come to understand Gods commitment to his children. We must nourish and develope our commitment to him. It is widely assumed that the book of Ecclesiastes was written by King Solomon, though that is not for sure. We do know that the writer was knowledgeable and had a diverse understanding of people in general. Wise like Solomon was known to be. The writer addressed how meaningless life is, in the absence of a relationship with God.
Ecclesiastes 1
1The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem.
2Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity.
3What profit hath a man of all his labour which he taketh under the sun?
4One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh: but the earth abideth for ever.
5The sun also ariseth, and the sun goeth down, and hasteth to his place where he arose.
6The wind goeth toward the south, and turneth about unto the north; it whirleth about continually, and the wind returneth again according to his circuits.
7All the rivers run into the sea; yet the sea is not full; unto the place from whence the rivers come, thither they return again.
8All things are full of labour; man cannot utter it: the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing.
The first verse is probably the first reason, this book is thought to be written by Solomon. The very first proclamation is, that all is just a passing moment in time. No matter what you accomplish on this earth. Here on earth your life must come to an end. We as Christians know, only those things we do for God will last. The only thing we can do, is surrender our personal lives. There is nothing else we can give him, he possesses all. When we look at nature itself. It gives us an example of Gods infinite power. When we consider the earths elements, the wind, water and the sun. They all continue to function, in spite of mans involvement. Man has made countless attempts to harness it's power. With little or no success. Man has been allowed to use them for our benefit, to some degree. Periodically we are reminded through hardship and disaster. We still cannot control what ultimately happens. It's only by Gods grace, we don't encounter their wrath.
Ecclesiastes 1:9:
9The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun.
This is one of my favorite verses in the bible. Everything we see in this life, has already happened before. Using our earthly knowledge, or human logic. We wouldn't continue to be optimistic, and hope for better times. When we put our faith other than in God, we come up short. If we follow the laws of gravity,"what goes up, must come down". Or Murphy's law,"what can go wrong, probably will". Everything would would end with a negative result. There are two sides to everything even life. There is the good, and there is the bad. To embrace the good and alleviate the bad. We must accept and follow, Gods plan for our lives.
John 20:19-23:
19Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you.
20And when he had so said, he shewed unto them his hands and his side. Then were the disciples glad, when they saw the LORD.
21Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you.
22And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost:
23Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained.
Here the disciples have confirmation, that Jesus has risen. They have ran to Jerusalem ,in fear of their own lives. In spite of being told on three different occasions, of his resurrection. They did not believe until now. Until they seen him with his pierced side, and the holes in his hands. They knew then beyond a shadow of a doubt. Jesus then commissioned them to carry forth the word. Having witnessed his ministry, and the miracles he had performed. Just as God had sent him, he was sending them. He blessed them with the holy ghost. Having equipped them with everything they needed. To boldly spread to the world, the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Ecclesiastes 1
1The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem.
2Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity.
3What profit hath a man of all his labour which he taketh under the sun?
4One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh: but the earth abideth for ever.
5The sun also ariseth, and the sun goeth down, and hasteth to his place where he arose.
6The wind goeth toward the south, and turneth about unto the north; it whirleth about continually, and the wind returneth again according to his circuits.
7All the rivers run into the sea; yet the sea is not full; unto the place from whence the rivers come, thither they return again.
8All things are full of labour; man cannot utter it: the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing.
The first verse is probably the first reason, this book is thought to be written by Solomon. The very first proclamation is, that all is just a passing moment in time. No matter what you accomplish on this earth. Here on earth your life must come to an end. We as Christians know, only those things we do for God will last. The only thing we can do, is surrender our personal lives. There is nothing else we can give him, he possesses all. When we look at nature itself. It gives us an example of Gods infinite power. When we consider the earths elements, the wind, water and the sun. They all continue to function, in spite of mans involvement. Man has made countless attempts to harness it's power. With little or no success. Man has been allowed to use them for our benefit, to some degree. Periodically we are reminded through hardship and disaster. We still cannot control what ultimately happens. It's only by Gods grace, we don't encounter their wrath.
Ecclesiastes 1:9:
9The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun.
This is one of my favorite verses in the bible. Everything we see in this life, has already happened before. Using our earthly knowledge, or human logic. We wouldn't continue to be optimistic, and hope for better times. When we put our faith other than in God, we come up short. If we follow the laws of gravity,"what goes up, must come down". Or Murphy's law,"what can go wrong, probably will". Everything would would end with a negative result. There are two sides to everything even life. There is the good, and there is the bad. To embrace the good and alleviate the bad. We must accept and follow, Gods plan for our lives.
John 20:19-23:
19Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you.
20And when he had so said, he shewed unto them his hands and his side. Then were the disciples glad, when they saw the LORD.
21Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you.
22And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost:
23Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained.
Here the disciples have confirmation, that Jesus has risen. They have ran to Jerusalem ,in fear of their own lives. In spite of being told on three different occasions, of his resurrection. They did not believe until now. Until they seen him with his pierced side, and the holes in his hands. They knew then beyond a shadow of a doubt. Jesus then commissioned them to carry forth the word. Having witnessed his ministry, and the miracles he had performed. Just as God had sent him, he was sending them. He blessed them with the holy ghost. Having equipped them with everything they needed. To boldly spread to the world, the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
posted by Common @ 10:32 PM
1 Comments:
At 5:58 PM,
Common said…
This question came up in Sunday School class. Though it has nothing to do with the lesson. We addressed it anyway though. I later found out the motivation behind the inquiry.The question was who was the first disciple to refer to Jesus as God? First let's clear up the assumption. That Jesus is God, because he's not. The trinity that's another subject. Nobody was calling Jesus the Father. As the person asking the question was implying. Jesus is the son of God, about his fathers business. The disciple in question was Thomas. After being told on two occasions. He didn't believe Jesus had risen. For him to finally realize, what he heard was true. He had to stick his finger in the holes, where the stakes had been. And the piercing in his side. He was only acknowledging the fact, that he now believed in the teachings of Jesus. Below is the scripture we're talking about. I like to read two verses before, and two verses after. To get a better understanding of verse 28, the focal point:
Passage John 20:26-30:
26And after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them: then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you.
27Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing.
28And Thomas answered and said unto him, My LORD and my God.
29Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.
30And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book
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