Encountering Christ After Ecclesiastes
What if the surest path to a deeper encounter with Christ begins by facing the unsettling truths of Ecclesiastes?
Before I die, I hope to write a book called Encountering Christ. Before that, however, I want to write a book on Ecclesiastes. Like Jesus Christ, Ecclesiastes calls for an “encounter,” and I have long believed that Christ is best encountered after we have encountered Ecclesiastes. All of the books in the Old Testament prepare us to receive the gospel of Christ, but there is a special sense in which this is true of Ecclesiastes.
The gospel is about the forgiveness of our sins and the hope of eternal life. Yet as long as we are content with the blessings this present world offers, the message of eternal hope will not penetrate deeply into our hearts. Our fingers have to be pried loose from this world before the one to come will attract us as it should.
Ecclesiastes forcefully reminds us of the limitations God placed upon human activity after Adam and Eve rejected His will and were expelled from the Garden. Work that would have been perfectly joyful, predictable, and fulfilling in Eden would now be subject to frustration, transitoriness, and unpredictability (Genesis 3:17-19).
After the Fall, God made sure that man would not always be able to comprehend and control his world: he would not be able to turn this world into a vending machine and build a life for himself that would be dependably and completely satisfying. Man’s attempt to lay hold of the “good life” would always be uncertain. God might allow some of man’s plans to succeed, but He would ensure that others did not. And man would never know in advance which of his efforts would succeed and which would fail (Genesis 11:1-9; Ecclesiastes 11:6; James 4:13-16).
As a result of these frustrations and disappointments, man longs for — or should long for — a different world. Paul described this longing when he wrote, “For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope; because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now” (Romans 8:20-22).
Unfortunately, not everybody feels or acknowledges this longing. Many do not take seriously the limits that God placed upon this world. Especially in the affluent, technologically advanced parts of the world, many suppose that this world is a pretty good place to live. Living in denial, they persuade themselves that life in the here and now is better than it really is (Luke 12:15-21; Revelation 3:17-19).
That is why the gospel has so little impact in such places. Believing that this world is good — and continually improving as science removes more of life’s hardships — many dismiss Jesus’ promise of eternal life as unnecessary, if not beneath the dignity of modern humanity.
The more honestly we grapple with what Solomon says about this world, we will be more open to the world to come. We will lay aside our pretense, admit the unreliability of our human efforts, and be ready to hear what Jesus taught about real life and where it comes from.
And don’t think that, if you’re a Christian, you don’t need to hear what Solomon says about the insufficiency of your life “under the sun.” Especially if you are a prosperous Christian in the modern Western world, and worshiping with an affluent suburban congregation, you may be just as dependent on happiness in this world as the well-adjusted, secular folks who live next door to you. You may need to face the facts and let go of this world as much as they do.
So, my dear friends: Listen to Ecclesiastes. Don’t water it down or write it off. Let it sink in.
After you’ve swallowed the medicine Solomon offers you, I hope you’ll encounter Christ more deeply and courageously. Even if you’re a Christian!
Gary Henry - WordPoints.com