Paradise regained

"What is the chief goal of man"

Ecclesiastes Ch1 v1-11

Can we live better lives?  Is there another way to find fulfilment

Many have tried and failed  But you now can find that fulfilment

Vanity and the weariness of Man

The argument of Ecclesiastes

 “is the vanity of all things under the sun”   Meaning "without God in the world"

The chapter reminds us that it is vanity and the weariness of man that leads him down the spiraling decent morally, because of man's inability to straighten what has been made crooked and to furnish what is defective.

Romans Ch.2 v3 reminds us   because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God's wrath

It is a truism to say that order in nature depends upon right relationships - To achieve harmony each thing must be in its proper position relative to each other thing.  In human life it is not otherwise so.

As the sailor locates his position on the sea by "shooting" the sun, so we may get our moral bearings by looking at God. We must begin with God. We are right when and only when we stand in a right position relative to God, and we are wrong so far and so long as we stand in any other position.

 God has fixed boundaries in which lives are to be ordered .  The Ten Commandments are such. They set firstly the existence of a creator God and our relationship to Him and secondly our relationship to one another

When we detach ourselves from a creator God then our moral standards are somewhat suspect. Modern man says “I have a right to do what I want”, but there comes a time when his rights trespasses the boundaries of another person who also has the same rights. We do not live in vacuum and rights have to be balanced in the light of our environment in which we exist in and are responsible for

God has appointed fixed laws  for the well being of man; He has set boundaries where man may dwell. He has given him the consciousness of another life

Man is ever learning,  we are living in an age where knowledge and the pursuit of knowledge are colossal and the ability to seek after and acquire knowledge is phenomenal. And yet for all this knowledge man has not learned to live at peace with he fellow beings, the world today is still a very hostile environment

 

Man outside of God is a restless soul  Man outside of God will ever be a restless creature, ever trying to satisfy his needs, and yet never being satisfied always striving to fill that void. Man was made to worship, he is a worshipping being he can only find true satisfaction when he surrenders his own kingdom for the kingdom of God and live under God's ordinances Man Finds True wisdom and happiness in this state

   He has made everything beautiful in its time. He also set eternity in the hearts of man, yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end. ( Ecclesiastes  Ch3 vll )

Can we live better lives?  Is there another way to find fulfilment

Many have tried and failed  But you now can find that fulfilment

In the gospel of John  Chapter 3 v16 -21    we read the following   Whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved.

He that believes on him is not contemned; but he that believes not is condemned already. Because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

Jesus Christ came to  bring about a restoration - and a renewed relationship with God, to restore that, which was severed through sin. He died upon the cross to take our punishment.  Mans true happiness is only found when we relinquish self off the throne of our life, and allow God to rule.

The Philosophers of our modern day say - Since we cannot know who we are, where we came from, and where we are going; since we do not understand the past and have no hope of the future, then the present is all that matters

The Bible teaches that we came from God, - that we where born in sin,that our present predicament is due to sin, and because of sin there will be a judgement at the end of ones life.

To live a life with a purpose - we need to have our sin problem resolved, the Bible says that all that is written within its pages, where written, that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you might have life through his name

Because not to believe, is to condemn your self  On that judgement day there will be no smart lawyers to defend your case against Almighty God. The verdict will be "Guilty"

read  again John 3 : 18-19   But he that believes not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

To believe

 Is to turn from your former life and to live life with a renewed attitude,

Which brings purpose, Responsibility, Assurance of a future life

Make sure your life today is on the right track