Growing Kids in Grace: Overview of Ecclesiastes: Look to the Son!

1. Hook: Blow wind blow game

We played the game “Blow, wind, blow” just now. Have you ever tried chasing after the wind? You can run all you want, jump all you want, tire yourself out completely, but you won’t be able to catch the wind. The wind blows here and there. You cannot get hold of it.
Sometimes we all live our lives trying as if we’re chasing the wind. We chase after pleasure. We chase after knowledge. We chase after wealth and riches. But in the end we are empty.
There’s one person who fills us up completely. We don’t have to run around to chase after Him. Because He was the one who came to look for us and to save us. Who is that person? Jesus!

2. Lesson: Overview of Ecclesiastes: Look to the Son!

<help kids to pronounce … E-clee-sias-tis>
Ecclesiastes means “teacher” or “preacher”
Solomon (son of David, king in Jerusalem) probably wrote this book near the end of his life, when he was an old man.

“Meaningless! Meaningless! Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless.” (1:2)
All things are wearisome, more than one can say. (1:8)
There is nothing new under the sun. (1:9)

He described life as trying to chase after the wind!
Why would Solomon write something like this?
Solomon had everything in this world that anyone could hope for. He had wisdom from God. He had pleasure, riches, achievements (the big beautiful temple) and lots of possessions.
Although he was so wise and rich, he made some wrong decisions in life, and things didn’t go too well for him by the end of his life.
Solomon was a very successful king, but he married many, many foreign wives — he had 1,000!! (700 wives — wives of royal birth — and 300 concubines)
These wives did not know the true God. They led King Solomon to worship false gods/idols. Instead of trusting on God with all his heart, Solomon turned away from the true God.
1 Kings 11:4-6 “For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods: and his heart was not perfect with the Lord his God, as was the heart of David his father. For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites. And Solomon did evil in the sight of the Lord, and went not fully after the Lord, as did David his father."
God told Solomon that because he turned away from Him, Solomon’s glorious and famous kingdom would be divided up after his death.
Such a sad end for a king who had everything “under the sun”.

As Solomon wrote in Ecclesiastes, the things of this world alone do not bring real lasting satisfaction. They are all “Meaningless! Meaningless!”
Pleasure was meaningless:

“I denied myself nothing my eyes desired; I refused my heart no pleasure.” (2:10)

“All their days their work is grief and pain; even at night their minds do not rest. This too is meaningless.” (2:23)

“Whoever loves money never has enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with their income. This too is meaningless.” (5:10)

All these things that Solomon mentioned are good things. But by themselves, they do not bring satisfaction or fulfilment.
To Solomon, the man with everything, life “under the sun” had no meaning or hope.

Solomon concluded Ecclesiastes with "Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man." (12:13)
Under the Old Covenant, that was man’s duty. To fulfil God’s law.
But man failed over and over again.
Solomon, with all His wisdom and power, failed miserably.
Only the One greater than Solomon could fulfil the entire Law and keep ALL God’s commandments. That man is Jesus!

Solomon said that there is nothing new under the sun.
But Jesus, the SON of God, is not of this world! He’s not from “under the sun”. But He came down from heaven to give us hope and to give us life.
Jesus came to give us the New Covenant through His death on the cross and resurrection.
When we believe in Him, we are made new in Him. “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.” 2 Corinthians 5:17
In Christ, we have true meaning in life!

Then they asked him, “What must we do to do the works God requires?” Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.” (John 6:28-29)
And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us. (1 John 3:23)

Jesus is our meaning in life. When we believe in His finished work on the cross, His life lives in us and through us and we experience His abundant life! (John 10:10)

3. Activity Suggestions:

Memory Verse: John 6:29 Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.”
Sharing & prayer

Growing Kids in Grace