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Ecclesiastes “The Words of the Preacher” Ecclesiastes 1:1 God made Solomon wise above all in his day. And God the Holy Ghost inspired him in writing out his wisdom in Proverbs, the Song of Solomon, and Ecclesiastes. The wise man’s purpose in Ecclesiastes appears obvious. — In these twelve chapters of Inspiration we are forcibly confronted with two, undeniable facts. Without Christ Those who are without Christ are without God and without hope. The natural, unregenerate man lives in constant frustration. He is constantly looking for something to give him satisfaction, because there is no meaning to his life. Nothing under the sun can satisfy his immortal soul. When eternity bound creatures have earth bound hearts, they live in constant frustration and misery. Such poor souls constantly feel what Solomon declares from their point of view — “Vanity of vanities, all is vanity!” When the natural man looks over his life, he is forced to conclude, though he tries with all his might to deny it, “all was vanity and vexation of spirit, and there was no profit under the sun'” (2:11). That is how the Book begins. “The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem. Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity.” (Ecclesiastes 1:1-2) In Christ But the wisdom God gave Solomon taught him to never to look for satisfaction under the sun, but to look for and find satisfaction in Christ, the Son. The person who is born of God, the person who trusts Christ, the person who is taught of the Spirit finds meaning to his whole life and to all that is involved in life. His life has meaning because he lives in Christ and Christ lives in him. That’s how the Book ends. “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.” (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14) Beggars we are, though possessing all the riches of the world, without Christ. He is the substitute for everything. Nothing can be a substitute for him. The world is full of graspers; but all grasp in vain! They only draw in air. They do not know where the true substance lies — in him, the Pearl of Great Price. In him and with him we possess all things. Without him we are nothing, we can do nothing, and we have nothing.       Oh, the emptiness of life without Christ! It is utter vanity to seek satisfaction in this world. Ecclesiastes is a beacon, that we may be spared the bitterness of learning the vanity of the things of earth by finding their waters to fail; that we may seek Christ and find all in him. Don Fortner

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