Ecclesiastes 1:1-11

The famous phrase ‘under the sun’ is what sets Ecclesiastes apart from any other book in the Bible. It is a strictly secular view of life–life only as it appears ‘under the sun’ without an awareness of God’s love or eternal life. Its purpose is to make us see the vanity (or meaninglessness) of life ‘under the sun’ thereby forcing us to ask the question, “How can I be rescued from such hopelessness”? In other words, Ecclesiastes forces us to ask the question to which the rest of the Bible is the answer. We’ll begin our New Year by being reminded of the one thing that gives our lives meaning, hope, and purpose: that God in Jesus has broken into our life ‘under the sun’ to rescue us, to give us eternal hope, to love us, and to be loved by us. And this eternally loving relationship is the one thing that can forever satisfy the soul’s craving for meaning.