Solomon observes that wisdom excels folly, yet the same event happens to both the wise and the fool. Death comes to all, and even the successful and pre-eminent are soon forgotten. He then turns to hard work and labour and concludes that all his toil must be left to another who did not labour for it. “For all his days are sorrows, and his travail grief… This also is vanity.” Success, pre-eminence, and labour bring no lasting satisfaction.
Solomon withheld not his heart from any joy and possessed everything that his eyes desired—houses, gardens, riches, pleasures, and delights of every kind. Yet even while guided by wisdom, he concluded, “behold, all was vanity and vexation of spirit, and there was no profit under the sun.” Wealth, riches, and pleasure brought no true or lasting satisfaction.
Solomon, the wisest king in Israel’s history, set his heart to seek and search out all that is done under heaven by wisdom and knowledge. Yet after surpassing all before him in understanding, he concluded that all was vanity and a grasping for the wind. Even great learning brought only vexation, frustration, and grief. Satisfaction cannot be found in wisdom and knowledge, for the more one increases knowledge, the more sorrow is multiplied.
Solomon observes that “there is no new thing under the sun,” for history repeats itself and “there is no remembrance of former things.” Life under the sun offers no lasting progress, no lasting satisfaction, and no lasting remembrance. But the Christian sees history moving toward God’s intended end, and knows that while men may forget, God never forgets the work done for Him. True meaning is found not under the sun, but under the Son, Jesus Christ.
Solomon observes that “labour is futile,” asking, “What profit hath a man of all his labours under the sun?” He shows that life is an endless cycle—the sun rising and setting, the wind returning to its circuits, the rivers running yet never filling the sea. All things are wearisome; the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear with hearing. Under the sun, life becomes monotonous, tiring, and without lasting satisfaction.
“What is the meaning of life and is life worth living?” Ecclesiastes begins by asking what profit a man has from all his labour under the sun. Many measure life by its quality, possessions, work, pleasure, or relationships, but the preacher shows that apart from God such pursuits become labouring and gaining nothing.
The great end or goal of all of life and existence is the glory of God. God created everyone and everything in this universe for His own glory. In this final article on the solas of the Reformation, we will consider the motto Soli Deo Gloria (glory to God alone) in two areas, namely, salvation and worship.
Is justification by grace alone through faith alone or is it by grace through faith plus works? How does this Protestant or Biblical understanding of justification compare with the Roman Catholic view?
Against false religions and ideas, our text affirms the truth that there is one God or as our Shorter Catechism puts it – there is but one only, the living and true God.
The five solas of the Reformation refer to five principles that clearly distinguish the Reformers from the teachings of Rome. They lie at the center of what differentiates the theology of the Reformation from the theology of the Roman Catholic Church in the 16th century.
