WWUTT 1684 He Has Put Eternity In Our Hearts (Ecclesiastes 3:9-22)

Work, Joy, and God’s Purpose in Ecclesiastes

You know that God created you for work, and He created you to joy in that work. That you would give glory to God in that work. Otherwise, the work that you do is meaningless when we understand the text.

This is When We Understand The Text, a daily Bible commentary to help encourage your time in the Word. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday we feature New Testament Study, an Old Testament book on Thursday, and our Q &A on Friday.

Now here's your teacher, Pastor Gabe.

Thank you, Becky. We come to our study in Ecclesiastes chapter 3, picking up where we left off last week. So we went through that famous poem of Ecclesiastes, there is a time for everything under heaven, a season for everything.

We're going to pick up in verse 9 and read through to the end of the chapter. This is out of the Legacy Standard Bible. The Word of the Lord, through the voice of the preacher, here in the book of Ecclesiastes.

What advantage is there to the worker from that in which he labors? I have seen the endeavor which God has given the sons of men, with which to occupy themselves. He has made everything beautiful in its time.

He has also set eternity in their heart. Yet so that man will not find out the work which God has done from the beginning, even to the end. I know that there is nothing better for them than to be glad and to do good in one's lifetime.

Moreover that every man who eats and drinks and sees good in all of his labor, it is the gift of God. I know that everything God does will be forever. There is nothing to add to it and there is nothing to take from it.

God has so worked that men should fear him. That which is has been already, and that which will be has already been. Yet God seeks what is pursued. Furthermore, I have seen under the sun that in the place of justice there is wickedness, and in the place of righteousness there is wickedness.

I said in my heart, God will judge both the righteous man and the wicked man. For a time for every matter and for every work is there. I said in my heart, concerning the sons of men, God is testing them in order for them to see that they are but beasts.

For the fate of the sons of men and the fate of beasts is the same fate for each of them. As one dies, so dies the other, and they all have the same breath. So there is no advantage for man over beast, for all is vanity.

All go to the same place. All came from the dust and all return to the dust. Who knows that the breath of man ascends upward and the breath of the beast descends downward to the earth? I have seen that nothing is better than that man should be glad in his works, for that is his portion.

For who will bring him to see what will occur after him? Now these things really come on the tail end of what we had just read earlier, that poem that was in verses one through eight. So this is kind of continuing on with that same theme, less poetic, but still considering those things that are done under the sun and expounding upon the fact that God has made everything for a particular season.

Everything has a time in which it is to happen. This has been ordained by God. Nothing is happening outside of his control or outside of his sovereignty. He rules over all. He has created all, including time itself.

So everything happens within the time that it is given. What advantage is there to the worker from that in which he labors? Ecclesiastes 3 .9. And so we're starting with that, right? Ecclesiastes 3 .9.

What advantage is there to the worker from that in which he labors? The question really is answered in verse 22. So we're starting with that in verse nine. We come to the answer in verse 22. After all the other musings, the things that the preacher considers, we have in verse 22, I have seen that nothing is better than that man should be glad in his works, for that is his portion.

For who will bring him to see what will occur after him? Now remember the king has pondered earlier, this was back in chapter two, that I'm going to do all of this stuff in the earth and yet some fool is going to come after me and he's going to squander all of the things that I have accomplished and I have achieved in my time.

So therefore all is vanity. Okay. Then he talks about there's a time for everything under heaven, verses one through eight. And then he says, what advantage is there to the worker from that in which he labors?

So he comes back to the previous musing that we were reading about there in the latter half of chapter two and then concludes verse 22, I have seen that nothing is better than that a man should be glad in his works, for that is his portion.

For who will bring him to see what will occur after him? In other words, we're not going to know what's going to happen after. Yes, it's ridiculous that we should labor so in our lives and accomplish all of these things.

And then all of our accomplishments get squandered by the next idiot that comes along. So what point is there to doing anything? It's all vanity. It's all for nothing. But then the conclusion in chapter three, verse 22 is that a man should rejoice in the things that he does.

He should give praise to God, delighting that the Lord has given him something to do and he does it to the praise of his name. For who will bring him to see what will occur after him? That's the rhetorical question that we have at the close of chapter three.

In other words, I can't even know what's going to come after this. The Lord does. And if everything happens in God's hands, then even the idiot that comes along to squander what it is that I have done happens because God is sovereign over it.

And so why should that take from me the moments that I have now in my lifetime to work and have joy in it and give praise to God for the things that he has blessed me with? Make sense? You got it? There's the flow of thought there.

Chapter two into chapter three. So verse nine, once again, what advantage is there to the worker from that in which he labors? I have seen the endeavor which God has given the sons of men with which to occupy themselves.

Now, remember, at the very beginning of creation, when God created Adam and put him in the Garden of Eden, he put him in the garden to do what with it? To work it and to keep it right. God created Adam to work.

Work is not part of the fall. It's not part of the curse. Now work is hard because of the fall. Work is meaningless because of the curse, hence why the preacher so far up through Ecclesiastes has been saying, what's the point of there in the labor that I do?

It's all vanity. It doesn't get me anywhere. It's chasing after the wind. Because the things that we do in and of themselves are not meaningful or purposeful because of the fall. So work is not inherently good.

It depends on the work that you do and who gets the glory for it. Do you get the glory for the work or is God getting the glory for it? That's the way it was meant to be from the very beginning. God puts Adam, who was made in his image, in paradise, the Garden of Eden, to work it.

It's paradise and yet there's work for him to do. And the work that he does, this man being made in the image of God, he does to the glory of God. We who have been made to image God, that's what we're supposed to do.

Everything that we do is to be done unto his glory, man or woman. We do all things unto the glory of God. Adam is put in the garden to work it. We are meant to work. Work is not part of the fall. If you're not working, you're sinning.

If you're sitting around playing video games or sitting on social media all day long, you're in sin. You are not working as God has appointed for you to work. In fact, Paul said to the church in Thessalonica in 2 Thessalonians 3, if a man doesn't work, don't let him eat.

You have to earn your keep. You have to work. There is something for you to do. And you know, there's a job that you're supposed to do to make a wage, to make a living, to provide for yourself and for your family.

But there's even a job for you to do in the church. What are you doing in church? Are you doing more than just attending on Sunday morning? First of all, are you attending on Sunday morning? There's a problem there if you're not even going to church, but then you're there.

So what else are you doing? How else are you working and laboring within the body? And I'm not talking painting the lines in the parking lot or emptying trash cans and vacuuming the floors, okay? That's not what I mean.

But there is some other work for us to do that we may help sanctify one another and grow one another in this faith that we have been called to in Christ Jesus. Sanctification is a community project, this growing in holiness, growing in Christlikeness.

So there's a way in which all of us are to do this together in the church, in the body of Christ. We've all been made to work. Now the work that we do as Christians, now that we have fellowship with God through faith in Jesus Christ, the work that we do as Christians, we do unto the glory of God.

Even your secular job, meaning you may not have a job that is religious in nature, but your secular job, you do unto the glory of God. As it says in Colossians 3, you work not for men, but for the Lord.

So then the work that you do has meaning and purpose. You do it to glorify God. And in this way, you even grow in sanctification, that you grow in your rejoicing in the Lord. Even if you're doing something you don't terribly like doing, but you do it under the glory of his name.

For you know that there is a greater reward awaiting you in heaven when we will be with God forever in glory. We continue in these things in this time for now, all of this stuff is transient, but it should roll up into praise unto the Lord.

And then we dwell with him forever, praising him all the more. So verse 11, he has made everything beautiful in its time. Once again, this is a sovereignty statement. This is a statement that everything is under God's control and there is nothing happening outside of his control.

He has made everything beautiful in its time. Even the bad things that happen to you. There is a beauty that God means to come from it. Genesis 50, 20, you meant it for evil. God meant it for good. Romans 8, 28, all things work together for good, for those who love God and are called according to his purpose.

He has made everything beautiful in its time, for exactly the time and the place that these things are happening. He has also set eternity in their heart, yet so that man will not find out the work which God has done from the beginning, even to the end.

So we have a desire to see the conclusion of this work. There is a desire in the hearts of men to want to get to the end of this and see what God is doing from beginning to end. The desire is there, but we can't fathom it.

We can't see what he's done from beginning to end. Where we read this statement, God has put eternity into the hearts of men, yet we have eternity in the hearts of fallen men. So how does that look like an atheist, for example?

An atheist, we'll talk about some other religions here in a moment, but let's just stick with atheism who doesn't believe there is a God and doesn't believe there is an afterlife. Oh, but you talk to enough atheists, you find they do believe there is an eternity.

Either this universe has always existed without beginning and without end, or we live in one of an infinite number of universes. You know, that's another meta thing that they believe. You can't prove it.

It's, you know, just I'd rather not believe in God. But I don't want to believe in an infinite God. So I'm going to believe in an infinite universe, which is ridiculous. But anyway, you can tell even by these answers, there's a desire there for the eternity.

There's a knowledge of the eternity of the eternal, but they can't fathom the beginning from the end, just as it says in Ecclesiastes 311. Hey, look at that. Now you talk about somebody who believes in a different religion.

They're not a Christian, but they have a religious belief of another kind. What does their eternity look like? Well, you hear in their beliefs, even this concept of eternity, Buddhism, Hinduism. They're trying to ascend to like the greatest spiritual form of knowledge that will supersede all the physical and just dwell on forever, just live on forever.

Or those religions that believe in incarnation, reincarnation. So there will be, you know, a person that will die and then they'll be reincarnated as a fly or as a cow or, you know, whatever else, as another person until they're reincarnated and reincarnated up till they achieve this highest spiritual form and they just live on forever.

But all of that is eternal, right? Concepts of the eternal are there, even though they're misplaced. They don't give glory to God. They give glory to man. But the eternity, the desire for eternity is still there in their heart yet so that man cannot find out the work which God has done from beginning even to the end.

And that's a result of the fall. Like we don't know what God has done from beginning to the end because we're sinful. We desire our own flesh, which is limited and finite. So we can't understand the things of the everlasting God.

Man in his fallen state doesn't know the work that God has done from beginning to end. So that's a result of the fall. Part of the fall is that God would be harder to see. And men don't even seek after God.

As it says in Romans 3, 12, they seek the passions of their own flesh. The preacher goes on here in verse 12 to say, I know that there is nothing better for them than to be glad and to do good in one's lifetime.

That's what's good for a man. To be glad and do good. Good according to what God says is good. Moreover, verse 13, that every man who eats and drinks and sees good in all of his labor, it is the gift of God.

See, it's a good thing to have a party, get together with your friends and rejoice over feasting and even good wine that your heart may be merry, not drinking unto drunkenness, but drinking unto gladness.

And all of these things roll up into praise to God. It's giving glory to God in the midst of these things. And these moments that we experience with friends and family that bring our hearts delight, they are but a taste of the things that we will experience for eternity for those who are in Christ Jesus.

Even these moments in the temporary, in the physical, in the here and now, the good times that we experience, they are meant to be but a taste of the great joy that we will experience forever. We cannot even fathom how good that joy is.

Sometimes we can't even fathom what eternity is like, but the greatest moments that we experience now are just a taste of the joy that we will have forever with Christ in glory and with one another, with God and with the people of God.

Verse 14, I know that everything God does will be forever. Now we know this world is limited. It's not going to last forever. The world and everything that is in it is coming to an end, but the things that are done in it have eternal significance.

Which is why you must consider the things you say, the things you do, there's eternal significance to these things. Be careful what you say and do. Commit all your ways to the Lord. There is nothing to add to it, the preacher goes on, and there is nothing to take from it.

God has so worked that men should fear him. Because we all know that though there is an eternity that is there and our hearts yearn for eternity, yet we know that in our lifetimes we're limited. We have a beginning and we're going to die.

There is an end. So that the fear of God would be in the heart of man and we would seek God who alone can give us salvation from the death that we deserve because of our sin against God. And it's only in Christ Jesus that we have forgiveness of sins and the promise of that eternal life with God forever.

Verse 15, that which has been already and that which will be has already been. Yet God seeks what is pursued. In other words, he knows everything that man is after and there's going to be a judgment for everything that man has said and done.

And this comes up again at the end of the book. In Ecclesiastes 12, 14, the very last line. For God will bring every deed into judgment with every secret thing, whether good or evil. So God seeks out the things that man pursues.

He knows. And nothing can be hidden from the Lord. Verse 16, furthermore, I have seen under the sun that in the place of justice there is wickedness and in the place of righteousness there is wickedness.

I said in my heart, God will judge both the righteous man and the wicked man. For a time for every matter and for every work is there. A time for everything and everything that happens will come into judgment at the end.

And so consider the line in verse 14 again. God has so worked that men should fear him, knowing that all things will come into judgment before God eternities in the hearts of men. Men know there is a God and there is an ultimate judge who will have the final say over all of these things.

All of this has happened. All of this has been arranged a certain way so that men would have the fear of God. No one will have any excuse to say we didn't know. As it says in Romans 120, for his divine power and his eternal qualities are clearly seen in all that has been made.

Verse 18, I said in my heart concerning the sons of men, God is testing them in order for them to see that they are but beasts. All that happens to us, even the difficult trials that happen to us are to remind us of our finiteness, that we ourselves are not God.

Verse 19, for the fate of the sons of men and the fate of beasts is the same fate for each of them. As one dies, so dies the other, and they all have the same breath. So there is no advantage for man over beast, for all is vanity.

All go to the same place. All came from the dust and all return to the dust. Who knows that the breath of man ascends upward and the breath of the beast descends downward to the earth. Now Darwinism certainly teaches that people are all animals, but Darwinism teaches that people are derived from animals.

The scripture teaches that men and women were made in the image of God, and we were made for a purpose different than the beasts. We were made to glorify God. It's by our own sin that we have made worthless, even like animals.

And Romans 3 says that of us, that in our sin we have become worthless, and in our sin we have become like devouring creatures, like these beasts of the earth that will perish and be driven away. And so will happen at the final judgment.

All of the things of the world will perish with the world, but the things of God, those who have put their faith in Jesus Christ and have honored and glorified God with their lives, they will ascend into glory.

Verse 22, we'll finish up with this once again, coming back to this passage. I have seen that nothing is better than that man should be glad in his works, for that is his portion, for who will bring him to see what will occur after him?

So leave it all in the Lord's hands, and do all that is designated you for this time and place. Do it all for the glory of God. Turn from your sin to the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will live forever. Heavenly Father, I thank you for the lesson here, and I pray this does stir in us a fear of you.

We understand that we are limited creatures. We are not God. We will end up the same way as the beasts of the earth if we go about in our own ways. We will perish, we'll burn up with the world when the fire of judgment comes.

But if we are in Christ Jesus, we will marvel in him on that day. And we will not perish, but we will have everlasting life with God in glory. So in these moments, in these times, in these places in which we live, let us do all things unto the glory of your name.

Come quickly, Lord Jesus, that we may be with you in a place where there is no more evil, no more sin, no more dying, no more pain or suffering. Every tear will be wiped away, and we will dwell with God forever.

It's in Jesus' name that we pray.

Amen. This has been When We Understand the Text with Pastor Gabriel Hughes. For all of our podcasts, episodes, videos, books, and more, visit our website at www .utt .com. If you'd like to submit a question to this broadcast, or just send us a comment, email whenweunderstandthetext at gmail .com.

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