"Humans and animals come to the same end—humans die, animals die. We all breathe the same air. So there's really no advantage in being human. None. Everything's smoke. We all end up in the same place—we all came from dust, we all end up as dust. Nobody knows for sure that the human spirit rises to heaven or that the animal spirit sinks into the earth. So I made up my mind that there's nothing better for us men and women than to have a good time in whatever we do—that's our lot. Who knows if there's anything else to life?" [Ecclesiastes 3:19-22, The Message Translation]
So... that sounded depressing right? Yes, I am so sure it did. You just had a bit of insight into the thoughts of a man who was arguably the wisest and also one of the richest men on earth till date. That's right! The above quote was one of the many things King Solomon had to share with us in the book of Ecclesiastes. The book really goes a long way to show the futility and meaninglessness of our lives here on earth in the bigger scheme of things. Actually, it could even make one doubt if indeed there was a "bigger scheme" we had to think of. It puts a damper on the whole "reason for existence" mindset some of us seem to possess and could so easily send one into never ending bouts of despair. You know, if this was all scripture had to offer on this topic one could literally drop their bible, sit on the floor, and just go, "so what now do I do with my life when it'll only count here anyways?"
But you know the beautiful thing? This really isn't all we are privy to in scriptures. In fact, we see hope for us all- not just a ray of course, but richly splattered over scriptures. And it has a name- Jesus Christ! Because of Him we get to realise that- "If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied. But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep."[1 Corinthians 15:19-20, New International Version] And this, thankfully makes it all worthwhile. In this and in many more scriptures we come to see a clearer view of God's plan for humanity. We see hope and the fulfilment of that hope in Christ Jesus. We now know that indeed there is more to our lives and it doesn't end here. We know that what we do here on earth and because of Him matters. There's something more glorious in store for us, and it's in Christ- it is Christ! And His resurrection would always stand as the pillar for this truth.
This is our cry of victory. We get to glory in the knowledge that death cowered and bowed at the sight of our Lord and Saviour and that eternity for man even after his years on this earth has been thoroughly planned out and settled in Christ. Our Lord's resurrection granted us access to the same power that raised him up from the grave, and the owner and giver of such power- The Holy Spirit. Because of Him, we rejoice knowing we are able to enjoy our lives on two planes- heaven on earth. As carriers of His resurrection power, we soar and submerge ourselves in all He wrought for us by His resurrection- dominion in this age and in the age to come, now and forever. I'm very sure King Solomon was incredibly glad when he found out about this. You should be too.
GO ACHIEVE
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