One more take...One more point

Here is one final take on “What Life is All About”. Harry Leafe points out in his book Running to Win (pg.41) that someone held captive to the philosophies of this world can only be freed by God after careful administration of the Word (2 Tim 2:24-26). I suggest closing the lesson in prayer for those who are held captive by the devil and are missing living life with God.


P.S.
The following is the complete lesson plan for “What’s Life All About?” from Hampton Road Baptist Church.

Supplemental Teaching Plan
July 23, 2006, What’s Life All About?

Background Passage: Ecclesiastes 1:1-3:2

Lesson Focal Passage: Ecclesiastes 1:1-2, 16-17; 2:1, 3-4, 11, 24, 26; 3:16-17

Biblical Truth: Experience teaches the futility of seeking fulfillment apart from a personal faith relationship with God.

Life Impact: To help you experience fulfillment in a personal relationship with God.

I. Introduction

We completed the study of Job last week and will now look at the second of the wisdom books we are studying this quarter: Ecclesiastes. Ecclesiastes is usually ascribed to King Solomon based on Ecclesiastes 1:1. The first three chapters deal with the apparent futility of life without God. Do you ever get concerned with the futility of what you are doing? Mowing the yard is one of those for me. There is something futile about mowing the grass and then fertilizing and watering it so that it grows and you need to mow it! It is just a thought—not a very good one, but a thought. Some others are cleaning the house and washing the dishes: they just get dirty again. Seriously, these are not the things Solomon is referring to. He is talking about the futility of life lived outside the context of a relationship with Him.

In the first chapter, he looks at some of the dichotomies of life and sees nothing but futility in trying to understand these things from your own standpoint. He states that he has great wisdom but it does him little good in and of itself. After all, great wisdom just increases sorrow and grief (v. 1:18).

The second chapter declares that human pleasures, work, and possessions are meaningless.

The third chapter starts with one of the most recognizable poems in the Old Testament, declaring that for everything there is a time and a season (The Byrds). The third chapter bemoans the struggles of life and the injustice of death, concluding that only in God can we find meaning. The Bible in Context section of the Leaders’ Guide is very brief this week and needs to be supplemented.

Open the class in prayer.

II. Is Fulfillment Found in Wisdom? (Eccl 1:1-2, 16-17)

Eccl. 1:1-2 introduce the writer and the theme of the book. While all of the passage from 1:3-15 is good, I will not discourage your decision to move right to verses 16-17. Solomon first sees the futility of trying to find satisfaction in life through the accumulation of knowledge and wisdom—human knowledge and wisdom. This goes along well with the study of Job we just finished. Human wisdom cannot give us satisfactory answers to difficult questions. It is a perpetual process and a downward spiral. The more questions we try to answer, the more are raised. This is not to say we are not to pursue knowledge and wisdom, but it does give us an indication of the futility of the process outside a relationship with Jesus Christ.

The second thing about this quest is found in 1:17: Solomon explored both wisdom and folly and found these to be meaningless as well. I will share a couple of illustrations with you: first, in learning to identify counterfeit bills, U. S. Treasury agents don’t examine counterfeit bills. Instead, they study real ones until they can identify any bill that doesn’t look like the real thing. Robert Kriegel, in his book If It Ain’t Broke, Break It! (1991) says not to look where you don’t want to go. He uses the illustration of a man driving down a narrow country road with bar ditches on either side. Not wanting to end up in the bar ditch, he constantly keeps his eyes on the side of the road. Guess where he will end up. You’ve got it—in the bar ditch. If you want to stay on the road, keep your eyes on the road. If you want to recognize wisdom, look to God, not to folly!

III. Is Fulfillment in “The Good Life?” (Eccl. 2:1, 3-4, 11)

Solomon decides to test the life of decadence to see if that is where he will find meaning. But alas, that is not where we find fulfillment in life either. One thing Solomon says is that he explored these things in the context of wisdom—good try, Solomon! In my day (the sixties) it was using a little weed to “enhance perception.” People often imagine things are much funnier when they have had too much to drink. Smokers think the cigarette makes things “taste better.” This thought seems to be as old as humankind. Unfortunately, it didn’t work then, it didn’t work in the sixties, and it doesn’t work now.
IV. Is Fulfillment Found in Pleasing God? (Eccl. 2:24, 26; 3:16-17)

Solomon finally comes to a startling (to him) conclusion: the best thing to do is live life to the fullest within the context of a relationship with God. God is the giver of knowledge, wisdom, and joy. ALL truth is God’s truth, so it is a noble pursuit to search diligently for truth. Sometimes Christians denigrate science because it does not discover truth within God’s Holy Bible. But that same Bible says that all truth comes from God, so scientific truth (if it is real Truth) comes from God too. Let’s not lose sight of that. Of course, the reality is that the truth science discovers is, for the most part, just a piece of the puzzle in the search for Truth. Still, when we find everlasting, unchanging Truth, whether in Scripture or in the laboratory, it comes from God.

Solomon’s final discovery is that when he looks for wickedness, he finds God’s righteousness and when he searches for righteousness he finds wickedness along side. This is reminiscent of Jesus’ parable of the wheat and the tares. Ultimately, it is God who is the judge of the righteous and the unrighteous, and it is up to us to approach these issues with a modicum of humility. Quoting again from the movie Rocky, “There are only two immutable truths: first, there is a God and, second, I’m not Him.” Let’s remember that when we judge someone or something. We might use the same principle in interpreting the Truth of Scripture. As a professor of mine once said, “All Scripture is divine; all interpretation of Scripture is human.” Let this help you discover humility.

V. Conclusion

This has been short. I’m sorry I didn’t have time to prepare more. Likewise, I’m sorry I will not post a supplemental lesson plan for July 30 since I will be in Washington taking part in the Washington Institute. Preparation for this institute has been difficult and I am tired. I will be back in town on July 29, and I will conduct the FOCUS meeting on July 30 and I will post the supplemental teaching plan for August 6.

You may wish to close the class period with the playing of hit song from the Byrds or merely read the poem from the King James Version.

Bro. Bob

Close the class in prayer.