The Teacher looks out upon the world and sees many human illustrations of the meaninglessness that pervades ‘life under the sun’: the suffering of the powerless that have no one to comfort them, the envy and jealousy that drives people in their work and careers, the foolishness of those who destroy themselves by opting out of life altogether, the pointlessness of being materially rich and yet relation-ally poor and the short lived popularity of those who gain political power. If our lives are not redeemed for a larger purpose we are doomed to such futility and pointlessness. The gospel of a holy God who will not be satisfied until we are redeemed into valuing His worth and glory more than anything else is a gospel that enables us not merely to survive but ‘to live to such an age as this’. We need not be overwhelmed with the cynicism and tragedy of this world nor ignorant of its foolish delusions but graciously in our weakness enabled to live for and through His holy and eternal love.

May the stark realism of the ‘Teacher’ show us even more clearly the riches of wisdom and understanding that we have in Christ.