That which has been is what will be, that which is done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun. Is there anything of which it may be said, “See, this is new”? It has already been in ancient times before us. (Ecclesiastes 1:9-10)

The Secret Of Life

Nothing has been more pressing on the hearts of men than to find why they exist and what the purpose of life is meant to be. Men are seekers. The yearning to explore is wanting to know what lies beyond the mountain range or the endless oceans. Before the days of technology, the sphere of man’s knowledge was limited. Men like Marco Polo, Christopher Columbus, Vasco da Gama, Ferdinand Magellan & Juan Sebastián Elcano opened the world to discover new lands and shrink the view of the earth. With all the modern tools to probe deep into the universe and plumb the depths of the oceans, men still seek meaning in life.

There are thousands of books written on the secrets of life. Human philosophy exhausts the subject ad nauseum. One book has had the answer for thousands of years. God delivered His word to humanity to allow men to know what they are, who they are, and the purpose of life. The Bible is filled with answers to the identity of man and commonalities that never change. There is a misguided notion that each succeeding generation has greater knowledge than the previous. They are called “advancements” as if it is a new revelation. While the technology has not been realized before and changes the landscape of how the world functions, the Lord declares there is nothing new under the sun.

Solomon lived a little over nine hundred years before Christ. His kingdom was the greatest nation in power, wealth, and influence. He writes that life is vanity, suggesting a fruitlessness to the immense activity men put into life without regard to the eternal. No nation in the last three thousand years has reached the zenith of the United Kingdom of Israel under Solomon. He possessed the greatest wisdom any human being could have, including the intellectuals of modern history. And the wisest king on earth said there is nothing new under the sun. The reality of the frailty of the human struggle is underlined by the same problems men have always faced and the same solution God has given to His creation.

There is nothing new under the sun because men still fail when it comes to sin. Solomon faced the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life as all men face today. He failed often. His life was marred by ill-advised decisions based on his lusts that brought him the displeasure of the God who gave him everything. But Solomon was not unlike Abraham, Moses, Samson, Samuel, and his father, David. Sin plagues the souls of men today, thousands of years later, and will continue to do so until the Lord returns.

The answer to sin has not changed fundamentally. God has always shown His mercy, love, and grace to failed man. He did in the Garden of Eden, to Noah when he got drunk, for Abraham lying about his wife, to Moses who murdered a man and faced his own demons in the wilderness. Samson struggled as a man of God, David failed as a man after God’s own heart, and Elijah wanted the Lord to kill him. Peter denied the Lord three times. Paul struggled in his faith to be a faithful servant. The covenants changed over time to bring all men to Christ, but ultimately, the gospel of salvation was the same. God did not change His desire to save man. His will has never changed. Jesus said those who do the will of the Father would be saved. That is true of Abraham, Moses, and Paul; and of you who live in this generation.

The secret to life is to understand that sin still exists and that God continues to offer His grace to those who seek to overcome sin. That answer can only be found in Jesus Christ. There is nothing new under the sun. Man is the same. God is the same. Salvation is the same. Heaven and Hell are real and will not change. Eternity is the same. Nothing has changed. What God asked is that YOU change. You can do that. One thing that can be new under the sun is you can obey God’s word. Why not make your life new in Christ? It is then you will discover the greatest secret of life.