Wired for Eternity - Ecclesiastes 3:9-15

Solomon says what God does is flawless and it's forever, even when beloved. It doesn't look like God is ruling from heaven. God is ruling even when you're world and maybe your own personal world is filled with chaos, God is ordering the chaos even when things seem to be following up our God is sovereignly engineering part of those things so they ultimately fall into the puzzle of his divine. I have no doubt you could experience things in life that caused pain, confusion, and didn't quite make sense.

One of the reasons why the difficult aspects of life. Don't make sense is because were wired for eternity.

People throughout history in every culture have held the belief of eternal life because were made in God's image were designed with an innate sense of eternity. And that's why were dissatisfied with the things of this life.

Welcome to wisdom for the heart.

Today Stephen Davey returns to Ecclesiastes 3 to remind us of God's eternal sovereignty as he writes the story of our lives. One author maybe save or how far back in time.

Every civilization in human history.

Shape by the says we will live forever.

Somewhere, the more we excavate the more evidence is uncovered that people throughout human history.

Believe in life after earth he went on day get several descriptions. The Australian aborigines picture heaven is a distant island beyond the western horizon, Peruvians and Polynesians believe they went to the sun or to the moon after death.

Native Americans believe that in their afterlife, their spirits with hunt spirits of the Buffalo the oldest secular story to been excavated, was written in Babylon some 2700 years before the birth of Christ and referred to their heroes upon death. Going to a place of rest beneath the tree of life sounds ever so slightly familiar. The pyramids he went on of Egypt entombed wealthy citizens and royalty with maps placed beside their embalmed bodies so they wouldn't get lost. As they traveled in the afterlife, Seneca. The Roman philosopher said today that theorist, referring to the day of death, the day thou theorist is the first day you are eternity. Although the depictions of the afterlife vary widely with global unifying testimony of the vast majority of the human race throughout human history involves the concept of life after death, somebody might say to me you know Stephen, that everybody believes it, and I would say no. Not everybody is willing to suddenly find ways to debunk it or deny it started this believe it atheist Stephen Hawking was asked what his view was of Christianity, life after death and he said the brain is a computer which will stop working when it's component fail and there is no afterlife were broken down computers went on to say, Christianity is a fairytale.

It is an allusion embraced by people who are afraid of the dark a few days after he made that comment John Lennox, a mathematician, a professor at Oxford University at a Christian apologist was as what you think about his statement that Christianity is an allusion embraced by people who are afraid of the dark. He said well atheism is an allusion embraced by people who are afraid of the light. The truth is the believers the only one neither afraid of the dark or the light were not afraid of the darkness of death. When I understand it, it's a mystery to us and frankly, we are all African want to feel analogous in Alaska. What that transmigration is to be Ligon and all of that will fear that dark veil knowing behind it is a kingdom of light and life. Death is simply the hand that opens the door way of heaven. Not everyone will admit to life after death, but the compelling observation is that the human being, intuitively anticipates something more out there something beyond what we can see, taste or touch seek God has placed us in time, but he has wired us for eternity.

So the question remains what kind of perspective. Should we have as we travel through time to speak on our way to eternity.

As Francis Schaeffer, the apologist famously asked in the last century. How shall we then live.

The Bible gives us hundreds of encouragements and promises and and principles and commandments. But I want to answer that, from what Solomon is provided in his inspired Journal so let's go back to Ecclesiastes chapter 3, and let's limit ourselves to the observations he makes in just this Where we left off what I want to do is put Solomon's observations into for encouragement for encouragements for the believer who is traveling through time, heading toward eternity. The first one is this, don't lose heart.

As God composes your life story.

Notice Ecclesiastes chapter 3 and verse nine to get back up there.

What gain has the worker from his toil. You may remember the word toilet appeared already. That's a reference to a person's burden his workload in life will so what are you really getting out all that burden all the work load. You've been given notice.

Solomon makes an observation verse 10. I've seen the business that God is given to the children. Amanda be busy with sound like what he said earlier, it is very minor thing is say something really pessimistic now. He does it he says he has made everything all of that beautiful in its time and reference to time take you back to his poem. He just concluded we were with us. You remember the type of birth – sorrow, joy, laughter, tears reaping and sowing. It might not fit our plans, but it is all fitting into his plans were beautiful. As we studied in our last session can be translated fitting or suitable so the question is what am I getting out of life.

The question is what is God feeding into my life.

What is God choosing to unveil as he reveals the composition of my life story you see when we understand his authorship.

It keeps us from losing heart is God composes the next chapter. This is how beloved we don't waste chapters on suffering. This is what God is doing. This is what God is finding fitting. This is what God is allowing this is what God is using in your life. Joseph dear old enough in the faith that he went through these years of suffering, his brother sold him into slavery. He languishes in prison for years but he never does go back home.

Yet he would say to his brothers when they reconciled you meant it for evil but God meant it got overloaded.fitted into my life for good. When you know the end of this it was suitable after all this is how you don't waste chapters of suffering.

This is how you don't miss use those chapters of success.

Turning it all in self praising, self congratulating, this is what I did what I did here is the decision I made here that I did these three things on success with this. Three things in two that's all I truly worship me is how you don't miss use those chapters of success. Also, he is put eternity in the man's heart yet so that he cannot find out what God is done from the beginning to the end the work for eternity years been variously translated by some to mean the world but the world and here are only like to get that out of their ignorance. We might agree with that darkness, or eternity.

The translation we arrived at is one that would fit the context of this chapter.

This paragraph he is just completed a poem about time God orchestrating and planning over time.

Furthermore and rather conclusively the same word appears again in verse 14. You want to look down there and were told whatever God does it indoors forever same word for all of eternity and hours God is put forever in our hearts this sentence out forever in our hearts this concept.

This idea this reality eternal forever is our hearts. And with that God is made as inquisitive as any about eternity, even though Solomon tells us we can figure out very much about it was is provided in Scripture with God is been doing from eternity past what is going to do an eternity future. What we know and and and what we only know is what God has revealed.

He was the only eyewitness at creation and he told us what happened there.

A lot of people have trouble with that boy get to do about the last creation trouble with that one. Not as many people have as much trouble without go to heaven or offer that we know what God has revealed. We nobody's told us in a nexus inquisitive about that and that's because were made in his image in our God is an eternal God and with immortality stamped on us and so we are thus wired for eternity.

God has planted us in time, but with an implanted sin of eternity. I love the way CS Lewis wrote it.

He writes this way. 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. I love that don't lose heart.

God writes out your life story. Don't lose touch with that sense of eternity. It's real. It's got implanted. Solomon makes 1/3 observation on how to live through time as we head toward eternity. Don't lose out on joy on the joy of simple activity lose out on that notice verse 12 by perceived that there is nothing better for them than to be joyful and to do good, as long as they live.

Also, that everyone should eat and drink and take pleasure in all his toil. This is God's gift to man that you might read then think okay we got it was well on the electrical hang on. I'm convinced that what I just read would not be in the Bible had God not chosen the right, we would never say this, we'll talk this way.

There were two pietistic enjoy your meal you savor those simple things in life. Take pleasure in your job whatever you can event really there is enjoyment.

Solomon writes in this text.

In doing good things would say that we get that that's really going on. I have that first you enjoy doing good things. Enjoy lunch. Enjoy it all joy building that house joy fixing the computer enjoy writing a contract enjoy cooking that meal, enjoy teaching that class enjoy cutting that lawn God takes pleasure in them, consider them pleasures and gifts from God to you. Notice how Solomon puts it, enjoying the simple things of life is second-best look again. I perceived that there is nothing better then to be joyful in these simple pleasures as gifts from your creator God is as if Solomon says you might be bound in time, but even Monday and is not a waste of time.

In fact, he recommends we enjoy as much as we cannot use the document way were allowed to talk that way in church when he put it this way, God enjoys your enjoyment as long as it is violating.

Obviously the word of God. God enjoys the fact that you enjoy the simplest things in life like lunch that you have about two hours.

You know I was. I read and research, typically on Fridays and then on Saturday I start writing I spend anywhere from 8 to 12 hours depending writing it out in footnoting and all of that and I was reading going back to one of my commentaries yesterday already put in about seven or eight hours and discount plunking through it and and he's applying verse 12 and he does it very practically to provoke my thinking to such practical thoughts as chair P. Put it this way. He said this means in a very practical way. Take a vacation. Don't feel guilty about it. Spend time outdoors pursue an enjoyable happy plants and flowers watch a football game. It was obviously the voice of God speaking to watch a football ball picks up the same idea and again this is really God would care EE wired us to enjoy this.

Paul even says it this way picks up along the same thing theme for screen is whether you're eating or drinking or enjoying meals.

Whatever you do, do all the glory of God, which means God to be glorified in the most Monday simple pleasure glorified him. Enjoy it. God created you with the capacity to enjoy it and got enjoys the fact that you enjoy it.

Even a simple meal teacher children and your grandchildren at even the simplest things are gifts from God to be enjoy would be a surprise to us would be a surprise is that one day will look at some of us and say you know why I wanted you to enjoy your life more than you did.

I gave you so many little gifts along the way