When Life Feels Meaningless
The creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God.
Romans 8:20-22
God’s story for Adam and Eve—and for all of humanity—was not yet over. As we have seen, even as He was issuing the curse against the serpent, He was looking toward the time when Christ would ultimately crush Satan’s head (see Genesis 3:15). In the meantime, Adam and Eve had lost their relationship with God, and now they and all their descendants had little choice but to try to meet their own needs in a fallen world. Even though God’s plan for redemption was slowly unfolding, they had to struggle to find purpose and meaning in life without an intimate relationship with God.
Solomon understood the challenge of this struggle. As king of Israel during the time the nation enjoyed its greatest prominence, he had the ability to do almost anything he wanted. He had accumulated great wealth and military strength (see 1 Kings 10:14-29). God had given him more wisdom than any other human to interpret his findings and observations (see 1 Kings 3:12). If anyone on earth could have possibly met his or her own personal needs, Solomon had the best chance.
Yet even with all these riches and power at his disposal, Solomon could find no purpose and meaning in life while living independently of God. “Meaningless! Meaningless!” he declared in the book of Ecclesiastes. “Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless. . . . I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind” (Ecclesiastes 1:2,14).
Today, we still struggle with our own personal identity and our reason for being here. When God issued the curse against Adam and Eve, He stated that women would bear their children in pain and men would work by the sweat of their brow (see Genesis 3:16-19). Consequently, women have historically tried to find their identity in their role as mothers, while men have tried to find their identity in their careers. But what if a woman never gets married or is unable to bear children? What if a man loses his job or his ability to work? Do those men and women lose their primary identity in Christ and their God-given purpose for being here?
Acting as our own god, we strive to make a name for ourselves. We search for significance by improving our appearance, performing better and seeking a higher social status. However, like Solomon, we soon find that whatever pinnacle of self-identity we reach crumbles under the pressure of rejection, criticism, morbid introspection, guilt, fear and shame. There is always someone who looks better, performs at a higher standard and reaches a higher social status. We are faced with the realization that everything we have sought to possess through our human efforts will one day pass away. We are incomplete without Christ, and nothing we can do by way of self-effort will make us whole.
We all have a longing for wholeness and feel the sting of its absence. In this we are not alone, for as Paul writes, “We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time” (Romans 8:22). All of creation in God’s story was affected by the Fall and longs for the day of redemption.
questions to consider:
Do you think the average person feels good about himself or herself? Why or why not?
Can a natural person find his or her identity and develop a good sense of worth by being attractive, or by performing better, or by having social status? Why or why not?
Are there any insignificant children of God? Explain your answer.
Who are you (not your name), and how do you feel about yourself?
Before we look at the gospel in the next section, ask several people a simple question: “Who are you?” If they share their name, say, “That is just your name. Who are you?” Write down the different responses that you hear.