This is the Life the Lord Has Made

In this final passage of Ecclesiastes, Solomon does not write from a king’s perspective. He writes from his deathbed. You could say Solomon has been teaching us how to live with one foot in the grave. Solomon acknowledges we do not know how many years we have in this life. But he urges us to rejoice in all of them. And as he does so, he doesn’t do so in a bucket-list fashion. Interestingly, he draws our attention to the dying man, and he only shows us the simple things this old man is no longer able to enjoy. by doing so, we are urged to enjoy the sweet life God has given us while we can. After all, God will bring us into judgment for how we used this gift of life we have from him. He will not only judge how we enjoyed it… but whether we enjoyed it and rejoiced in it, in the fear of him. As Solomon draws his message to a close, we come to find: Fearing God and enjoying life with God are nearly synonymous. So, the end of the matter really is this: Fear God and keep his commandments. For this is the whole essence of who man is.

Outline:

Main Idea: Rejoice in the LORD Always, for this is the Whole Duty of Man

A reminder from Solomon of how he has addressed us up to this point:

1. From carefully derived wisdom (12:9-10)
2. From uncomfortable, yet unfailing realities (12:11-12)
3. From the Fear of God (12:13-14)

How these relate to rejoicing in the life the LORD has made…

1. Rejoice All Your Days
   1. Rejoice in Whatever Days You Are Given (11:8)
   2. Rejoice While You’re Young (11:9a, 12:1)
   3. Rejoice that you’re going back to your Creator (12:1, 7)

Jared Millican

Former college pastor at Faith, Jared and his family are currently preparing to move to the Czech Republic and work as global outreach partners in 2024. He and his wife, Claire, have three children.

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