Is life a mere accident?  Does human life have meaning, if so how and through whom?  Science has answered many questions about the ‘how’ but not the ‘why’.  But as beings that seek identity and purpose, failing to answer why there is life is more than unsatisfactory, for it leaves humankind in an existential vacuum that few can bear.  Attempts to fill that vacuum include the accumulation of wealth or experiences, frenetic activity or developing addictive, destructive lifestyles.  But nothing ultimately works – the gaping hole remains a chasm at our very core.

In this post, I attempt to explain that only when we face the fact that we are creatures and we have a creator, and moreover, wish to restore the relationship with our creator that life has meaning.

I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. (John 10:10)

The Greek word that translates ‘life’ is ζωή zóé (Strong’s 2222); it can represent physical and spiritual life, but it implies something that is granted by God; originating and sustained by God alone; it is His gift derived from His self-existence.

The English word ‘life’ came from the Old English lif which meant only corporeal existence, that which starts with birth and ends with the mortal death.  And it is this understanding of life that currently prevails in the secular world.

Thus, one the most pernicious lies of the enemy is that mortality is the fullness and epitome of human existence and therefore must be lived to the full, whilst adding that it also random, thereby meaningless.

In fact, it is critical that all realise mortal life has meaning because its purpose is preparation for the hereafter.  Everyone must be alive to the sovereign choices of God for each individual response to them determines that person’s eternity.  Paul exhorts his reader:

Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses.  In the sight of God, who gives life to everything, and of Christ Jesus (1 Timothy 6:12-13)

Ecclesiastes is a book that examines mortal life and begins in chiastic fashion with a conclusion!

‘Meaningless! Meaningless!’
says the Teacher.
‘Utterly meaningless!
Everything is meaningless.’  (Ecclesiastes 1:2)

The self-identified teacher is the son of David, Solomon.  God granted his wish for wisdom and this book is full of that wisdom.

He continues:

I applied my mind to study and to explore by wisdom all that is done under the heavens. What a heavy burden God has laid on mankind!  I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind. (ibid 1:12-14)

Solomon clarifies that everything under the heavens or sun is meaningless, and any that labour for earthly things, pursue of the wind.  But what is the burden that God has laid upon humankind?  This is answered throughout Ecclesiastes but summarized in the penultimate verse:

Now all has been heard;
here is the conclusion of the matter:
fear God and keep his commandments,
for this is the duty of all mankind.  (ibid 12:13)

Yet, humankind is in open rebellion, rejecting God, even denying his very existence, chasing the ephemera of the world, wealth, power, celebrity, sensual experience and so on. Solomon had unlimited wealth and resources:

I denied myself nothing my eyes desired;
I refused my heart no pleasure.
My heart took delight in all my labour,
and this was the reward for all my toil.
Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done
and what I had toiled to achieve,
everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind;
nothing was gained under the sun.  (ibid 2:10-11)

As Paul reminds his pupil:

…godliness with contentment is great gain.   For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it.  But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that.  (1 Timothy 6:6-8)

Solomon had seven hundred wives and three hundred concubines (1 Kings 11:3); he had unfettered license to indulge every sexual and sensual pleasure – but he also rates this futile.  Toil, power, authority, standing all go the same way.  ‘Vanity of vanity, all is vanity’ is alternative version of the opening verse (ESV and AV), but for the true purpose of life there is nothing.

And that purpose, Solomon declares, is to bring oneself under the rule of God.  To align oneself with His desire.  For each to break his or her will that and accept His be done.  Obedience to God is the work of life – but if that should sound depressing or joyless, then all must fix upon God’s promises.

Life to the full is then understood as eternal life.  For sure, we have encouragement, a down payment in this life through faith in Christ:

 When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession… (Ephesians 1:13-14)

He (God the Father) anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.  (2 Corinthians 1:21-22)

By the ministry of the Holy Spirit all can understand that we are God’s but also that He only wants the very best for all who are his – and that is abundant life.  A life that is endless, pain-free, joy-filled and complete.  There is no deficit for God’s anointed people, only blessing upon blessing.

In Anglo-Saxon, the word lif represents mortality while eternal life is ælif.  One of the meanings of ‘æ’ is stream or spring, the very image of abundant life-giving water that Jesus promises the Samaritan woman:

‘Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.’  (John 4:13-14)

To gain the life that God would have all lead, first turn to Jesus Christ and believe he is God and that through his death and resurrection all might attain it.

…(for) if you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. (Romans 10:9)

This is salvation from an eternity not to be desired, one without God – banished, loveless and comfortless.  Put simply, the person who spends his life ignoring God will himself be ignored forever – their wish to exist without God is granted.

Yet Jesus takes upon himself the penalty for our once rebellion against God that would doom everyone to be cast from his Father’s presence – but there is more.  To enrich that life eternal while greatly benefitting others in this life, he expects us to submit to his commandments.  That ensures that none ‘weary from doing good’ (Galatians 6:9).

The full quotation explains this, the Law of the Harvest:

A man reaps what he sows.  Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.  Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.  Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.  (Galatians 6:8-10)

For even though salvation comes as a gift of grace through faith, there is still a reckoning:

For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what they have done.  (Matthew 16:27)

Fittingly, the last word goes to Solomon and the last verse of Ecclesiastes; people must never think their life is meaningless, nor their actions futile when viewed from an eternal perspective:

For God will bring every deed into judgment,
including every hidden thing,
whether it is good or evil.  (Ecclesiastes 12:14)