In Ecclesiastes, the Teacher has emphasized a few key points in his Genesis-shaped discussion of life. First, this life is marked by vanity or futility; it has been turned upside down because of sin. Sometimes there is wickedness in the place of righteousness; some- times the fastest runner doesn’t win the race; sometimes the wicked prosper and the righteous suffer. This “upside- downness” may tempt us to despair, but the Teacher tells us how to thrive in this sin-riddled world. Second, God has given us many things to enjoy. These gifts point us back toward the garden of Eden and forward to the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. Enjoying God’s gifts brings a small taste of life before sin and life when sin no longer reigns.

Third, our lives must be lived in relationship with God. In verse 13 we read that fearing God and keeping His commandments is the “whole duty of all mankind.” The word “duty” is absent in the original Hebrew text. Translators have supplied that word to try to make sense of what the Teacher is saying. In Hebrew he says that “the whole” or “the all of humanity” is fearing God and keeping His commandments. It is not our duty to be in relationship with God; it is our whole. It’s what it means to be human.

Genesis 1 teaches that all humans are created in God’s image, created to live in a relationship with Him as his co regents on planet Earth. We sinned and were expelled from His presence, but God did not abandon us. No, He worked to re-establish our true purpose of loving Him. He did this in many ways throughout the Old Testament, and in the New, He inaugurated the new covenant in the blood of His Son, Jesus—the only way to have forgiveness of sins and restored relationship with God.

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