10/27/2019 ECCLESIASTES PURSUING THE MEANING OF LIFE GOD HAS MADE EVERYTHING BEAUTIFUL IN HIS TIME ECCLESIASTES 3:1-15 1 10/27/2019 MORALISTIC THERAPEUTIC DEISM Christian Smith – Sociologist at Notre Dame, 2005 5 beliefs about God 1 A God exists who created and ordered the world and watches over human life from afar. 2 God does not need to be particularly involved in one's life except when God is needed to resolve a problem. 3 The central goal of life is to be happy and to feel good about oneself. 4 God wants people to be good, nice, and fair to each other, as taught in the Bible and by most world religions. - 5 Good people go to heaven when they die. THE TOTAL SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD OVER EVERYTHING 1 For everything there is a season, and a time (Kairos) for every matter under heaven: 14 I perceived that whatever God does endures forever; nothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it. God has done it, so that people fear before him. 15 That which is, already has been; that which is to be, already has been; and God seeks what has been driven away. 2 10/27/2019 THE TOTAL SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD OVER EVERYTHING Isaiah 42:9 Behold, the former things have come to pass, and new things I now declare; before they spring forth, I tell you of them.” Isaiah 46:9–10 Remember the former things of old; for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose,’ THE SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD APPLIES TO HUMAN LIFE EVERYWHERE IN EVERY WAY VS 2-8 14 Pairs of MERISMS - two x seven – perfection, completeness From birth to death and every aspect of human existence in between God has a largely inscrutable plan “A time to be born, and a time to die” bookends of existence Psalm 139:16 Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them. 3 10/27/2019 THE SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD APPLIES TO HUMAN LIFE EVERYWHERE IN EVERY WAY VS 2-8 Jeremiah 45:4 Thus shall you say to him, Thus says the LORD: Behold, what I have built I am breaking down, and what I have planted I am plucking up—that is, the whole land. Who kills and heals? The LORD Deuteronomy 32:39“‘See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no god beside me; I kill, and I make alive; I wound, and I heal; and there is none that can deliver out of my hand THE SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD APPLIES TO HUMAN LIFE EVERYWHERE IN EVERY WAY VS 2-8 But he said to her, “You speak as one of the foolish women would speak. Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil?” In all this Job did not sin with his lips. Job 2:10 Isaiah 45:6–7 that people may know, from the rising of the sun and from the west, that there is none besides me; I am the LORD, and there is no other. I form light and create darkness; I make well-being and create calamity; I am the LORD, who does all these things. 4 10/27/2019 THE SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD APPLIES TO HUMAN LIFE EVERYWHERE IN EVERY WAY VS 2-8 Psalm 139:4 Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O LORD, you know it altogether. Proverbs 16:1 The plans of the heart belong to man, but the answer of the tongue is from the LORD. Proverbs 16:3 The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the LORD. THE BEAUTY OF GOD’S SOVEREIGNTY AND ITS INTERSECTION WITH HUMAN EXISTENCE Vs10,12,13 Gift of the business of life as a gift to us. Enjoy life, be thankful and do good to others. Everything can have joy and meaning as God’s gift 5 10/27/2019 GOD HAS MADE EVERYTHING BEAUTIFUL IN ITS TIME WE EXPERIENCE LIFE ON THE BACKSIDE OF GOD’S TAPESTRY ALTHOUGH THE THREADS OF MY LIFE HAVE OFTEN SEEMED KNOTTED, I KNOW, BY FAITH, THAT ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE EMBROIDERY THERE IS A CROWN. CORRIE TEN BOOM, MY HEART SINGS TRUST IN HIS PLAN WHICH WE CANNOT GRASP 6 10/27/2019 GOD HAS MADE EVERYTHING BEAUTIFUL IN ITS TIME THE GREATEST BEAUTY IS TO BECOME LIKE JESUS CHRIST Romans 8:28–29 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers HE HAS PUT ETERNITY IN THE HEARTS OF MANKIND Thou hast made us for thyself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it finds its rest in thee. Augustine of Hippo 7 10/27/2019 D'OÙ VENONS NOUS QUE SOMMES NOUS OÙ ALLONS NOUS PAUL GAUGUIN 1897 WHERE DO WE COME FROM? WHAT ARE WE? WHERE ARE WE GOING? CS LEWIS in Mere Christianity: Most people, if they had really learned to look into their own hearts, would know that they do want, and want acutely, something that cannot be had in this world. There are all sorts of things in this world that offer to give it to you, but they never quite keep their promise ... If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world." 8 10/27/2019 GOD IS AT WORK THOUGH WE CANNOT GRASP WHAT GOD HAS DONE AND IS DOING. Isaiah 55:8–9 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. WE ARE LITTLE BRAINS …YET HE CANNOT FIND OUT WHAT GOD HAS DONE FROM THE BEGINNING TO THE END. Psalm 94:10–11 He who teaches man knowledge— the LORD— knows the thoughts of man, vs that they are but a breath. HEBEL 1 vs 795,000,000,000,000,000,000… add 202 more zeroes 9 10/27/2019 WHAT IS THE ULTIMATE PURPOSE OF OUR UNDERSTANDING THE BEAUTY OF GOD’S SOVEREIGNTY? GOD HAS DONE IT, SO THAT PEOPLE FEAR BEFORE HIM SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 29 PROVERBS 24:10 “IF YOU FAINT IN THE DAY OF ADVERSITY, YOUR STRENGTH IS SMALL.” 10 10/27/2019 PSALM 31:14–15 BUT I TRUST IN YOU, O LORD; I SAY, “YOU ARE MY GOD.” MY TIMES ARE IN YOUR HAND… 11.