The Douglas Adams book Hitchhiker’s guide to the Universe famously said that the meaning of “life, the universe and everything” had been calculated: The answer was 42. It was a joke, meant to highlight the hopelessness of the question.
To many people, there is no meaning of life: We just ‘are’. Until we’re not.
Often people assume that because they can’t find meaning in life, there is none.
But just because you can’t find treasure doesn’t mean it’s not there. Ecclesiastes is the work of a man trying to discover the meaning of life.
These notes accompany a sermon on YouTube delivered at Bromborough Evangelical Church, Wirral in November 2025. You can find more in the series in our sermon index.
Life without God is meaningless (1-11)
This is a strange book. It says some strange things about life and about God that don’t seem to square with the rest of the Bible. There are some brilliant observations, and some strange conclusions.
It’s helpful to notice that there are two voices: The Narrator, and the Teacher.
- The Narrator writes about the Teacher: Read Ecc 1:1.
- He headlines the Teacher’s worldview in verse 2.
- The rest of the book is the Teacher’s own musings, until the end. Ecclesiastes 12:8 recaps the worldview, and then the very last verses are the Narrator’s reflections on what the Teacher has said.
The Narrator ‘frames’ the book. And just within that frame there are poems on the futility and shortness of life (v3-11 here and 12:1-7).
So we join the Narrator in reading the Teacher’s words with godly wisdom, with a heavenly perspective – with Bible glasses.
Vanity of vanities
Read Ecc 1:2.
The word “futile” is variously translated as vanity, pointless, vapour, meaningless. It has the idea of a vapour, something that is passing, impossible to grasp, empty of value or meaning.
Everything, he says, is that.
If you’re familiar with the older translations (or ESV) you’ll know the phrase “vanity of vanities.” It’s a Hebrew thing where you say “x of x’s” to denote the “ultimate x” – like the Holy of Holies is the Most Holy Place. So already in v2, we see that the Teacher’s worldview is that everything is utterly meaningless, absolute futility.
That’s his conclusion in searching for the meaning of life.
Why? He summarises his thinking in the poem of v3-11.
Life under the sun
Notice Ecc 1:3.
It’s really important to notice the words he uses here. He’s looking for meaning in life “under the sun.” There’s no appeal to Scripture or prayer. The Teacher’s search filter is already restricted! He decides in advance that meaning must be found without reference to God – just as loads of people still do. He’s going only on what he can see. And it’s not good.
In v4-5 he sees things that just come and go, come and go.
In v6-7 everything goes round and round, round and round.
Verse 8 speaks of how everything is just relentless.
And in v9-10 he laments that there’s nothing really new. Technologies change, but people are still the same. Some are nice, others cruel, no-one’s perfect.
And in the end, v11 reminds us that in time nothing is permanent, no-one is remembered.
Wars, epidemics, natural disasters happen over and over. We grieve those we have loved and lost. One day, people will grieve over us (we hope). But in 100 years, we’ll all be forgotten. It’s meaningless, futile.
Putin, Trump, Netanyahu, Zelensky, you, me. Every poet, politician, sleazebag and saint. All gone.
That’s the Teacher’s point: There is no point to life.
And yet! We so deeply feel there must be more to life. Grief is so painful for death simply to be the end, isn’t it? Ecclesiastes is the search for the meaning of life.
But as long as you look for it only “under the sun” then you won’t find happiness, meaning, or hope that will last in this world. So:
Learn true wisdom (12-18)
Read Ecc 1:12. That sounds like it’s Solomon, and it might be. More likely it’s a later writer seeing the world as if through Solomon’s eyes (“channelling his inner Solomon” if you like!). Later, he writes in criticism of power and speaks about the king in the 3rd person (odd, if he was Solomon). It’s not uncommon in ancient near eastern writing.
Whoever the Teacher actually was doesn’t matter hugely.
Look at what he set out to do: Read Ecc 1:13. That’s the first mention of God. “God has given [lit.] to the children of Adam this miserable task…” It’s an interesting nod to God’s perfect creation in Genesis 1 – did God make life to be so futile, meaningless, empty?
The Teacher gives the conclusion of his search: Read Ecc 1:14.
There is no point to any human endeavour, no real meaning (he says). Looking for it is like a pursuit of the wind, like trying to catch your breath as it drifts away on a cold winter morning… But again, his search is only “under the sun.”
So why is the world so seemingly hopeless? Read Ecc 1:15.
Essentially, he says, “It is what it is. You can’t fix it.” In the context of the previous few verses, he’s essentially saying that the world is as it is because God has set it to be so: You can’t fix it.
But the world is absolutely not as it was created to be.
Genesis makes it abundantly clear that it is humanity’s sinfulness that ruins it and holds creation in its brokenness.
Searching for wisdom
The Teacher took on a huge task: Project Wisdom of Everything!
Read Ecc 1:16-17.
He looked for wisdom in life by experiencing all of it!
We’ll see later in the book how he really went for life! Building projects, sex, wealth, learning. But the more he achieved and the more he learned, the more sorrowful he became. Why? Because he learned that nothing under the sun brings lasting happiness or meaning. Nothing at all.
But Proverbs 1:7 says “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge,” and
Proverbs 3:7 says, “Don’t be wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD and turn away from evil.”
If you’re looking for meaning in life, and limiting your search to what you can see and experience, don’t waste your time.
The Teacher’s already done it, and the answer’s not good.
Under the sun, there’s no meaning or purpose to the loss of life in Ukraine, Russia, or the Middle East. It’s a futile world of pain for no lasting meaning.
Likewise, under the sun, there’s no meaning or purpose to your suffering.
Fear the Lord
But if you will learn to fear the Lord, you will begin to learn true wisdom. Fear him in the sense of honour him, listen to him, submit to him. He is above the world, over all human affairs, outside of time.
So read 1 Corinthians 1:20-25.
Life does not go round and round in meaningless circles. Time is linear. It has a beginning and is moving forward. God has a plan that moves through time. He created us, and we rejected him. So, in time, he sent Jesus to become human. Jesus was morally perfect in every way, and he laid down his life to take the punishment your sins deserve from God. We measure time BC / AD because of that history-defining moment. All of human history hinges on that, and it will come to an end as we know it at Christ’s return.
Jesus is the wisdom of God.
He’s the supernatural revelation of God – the missing information if you limit your search for the meaning of life to life under the sun.
Fear God; trust him, and turn to him. He stands ready to welcome you. Turn from your sin and pray to him today to forgive you.
That is the wisdom of God; that is the meaning of your life. So:
Put your hope in Christ (Romans 8:18-25)
The Teacher’s insights are clear as he looks at the world. He grasps the pain and mess of what we see on the news. He rightly expresses what we often feel: The grief, the loss, and the sense of empty meaninglessness and futility.
But things aren’t going round and round. Time has a direction. God has a purpose. A to B. Creation to New Creation.
And the New Testament openly acknowledges Creation’s pain and how it’s trapped in futility. So read Romans 8:18-25.
Under the sun, you, me, and everyone are nothing. We have no significance, meaning, or hope. Life is futile. But in Christ there is significance, meaning and hope as a child of God.
As a Christian, you have hope when all around are hopeless.
You become a beacon of hope for others.
Hope in the despair of war
In Ukraine, people know first hand the futility of war and grief. Our European cousins have been flocking to church, looking for wisdom – not under the sun, but from God.
The Baptist Union in Ukraine reports 90 new churches with dozens more in the pipeline, plus the ordination of 950 new preachers.
Rather than despair at the futility of it all, people are finding meaning, purpose, and hope in Jesus.
Is there meaning in your pain? Your grief, illness, or loss?
Romans 8:28 “We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.”
We all go astray like lost sheep, but God has a purpose, a plan.
Will you remain lost forever? Or will you come to Jesus, to life, to joy?
Turn from your sin that separates you from him. Put your hope in Christ.
This is true wisdom: Put your hope in Christ now and forever.
Away with empty futility! Come to fullness, purpose, peace and hope.
Come to Jesus – the very wisdom and power of God to you.
And come to him today.