Do you really believe God is in control, right now? My hometown welcomed its first legal brothel with a free 2-page colour spread in the local paper and approval (a phone poll) for the establishment to host a fund raiser for a kids sporting club. Add to this the fight in my State to have full-term abortion on demand and Psalm 12:8 never seemed so true: ‘On every side the wicked prowl, as vileness is exalted among the children of man’ (ESV).
Depravity seems unstoppable. Base instincts run wild, freed under the banner of ‘progress’. Appeal for moral restraint evokes phrases like ‘Stop being so Victorian, this is the 21st Century!’ The sad truth is crime really does pay (ask the mafia) and selfishness rules the world (watch the news).
So where is the truth in our bold confession ‘Jesus is Lord’? Our hearts will grow sick and tired if hope keeps getting deferred (Proverbs 13:12) by the ‘progress’ of our hedonistic society. Believe it or not, it was the book of Ecclesiastes that opened my eyes to the encouraging truth: Jesus is in complete control, right now. The ‘prosperity doctrine’ has done much damage, and Ecclesiastes is a casualty. It is not a ‘negative’ book. Ecclesiastes is a reality-check. If something really is vain, it is right to call it such.
Ecclesiastes 8:8 (ESV) says, ‘No man has power to retain the spirit, or power over the day of death. There is no discharge from war, nor will wickedness deliver those who are given to it’. The GNV says it this way, ‘No one can keep from dying or put off the day of death. That is a battle we cannot escape; we cannot cheat our way out’.
‘Nothing is certain but death and taxes’ it is said. Many people cheat on taxes, but absolutely no one will cheat on death. Refusing to be ‘negative’ by not considering death or treating it as something science will save us from will not change the facts. Death is inescapable, unstoppable, non-negotiable. It only is a pinch of time that separates us from all those who have felt its sting.
For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing, and they have no more reward, for the memory of them is forgotten. Their love and their hate and their envy have already perished, and forever they have no more share in all that is done under the sun. — Ecclesiastes 9:5-6 (ESV)
All power and ability will be completely stripped from us at our last breath. Death is the great leveller and the true indication of how much control and influence we actually have. Think of the most powerful dictators of the past like Hitler, Stalin or Nero. Their lives are over. They are nothing now. You can dance on their graves and they are powerless to do a thing about it. Death is God’s trump card.
… I saw the wicked buried, and they came and went from the holy place. And they were forgotten in the city, these things that they had done… — Ecclesiastes 8:10 (MKJV)
If everybody on the planet raised their fist at God and defied all His ways, it would not diminish His power or glory one degree. We think more highly of ourselves than we ought if we believe we mere humans can suppress God’s eternal glory. We have forgotten that we are made from dust and our life is but a breath or shadow (see Psalm 39:5-6, 144:4). How threatening is a shadow! No wonder God sits in the heavens and laughs at the rage of nations (see Psalm 2:1-4).
A man can no more diminish God’s glory by refusing to worship him than a lunatic can put out the sun by scribbling the word ‘darkness’ on the wall of his cell. — C.S. Lewis, The Problem of Pain, Chap. 3 (p. 46)
It is wise to fear God. Remember, Christ is Lord of death, not Satan. Don’t despair if the evil doer lives long or a good man’s life is cut short. All meet God in death. Facing God is the destination for all created beings (Satan included). Only those who feared Him can endure Him. The fear of God is not just about surviving that moment. It’s an appreciation of who God is as Creator, Redeemer, Judge, and Friend. It’s the beginning of wisdom.
Though a sinner does evil a hundred times, and his days be made longer, yet surely I know that it shall be well with those who fear God, who fear before Him. But it shall not be well with the wicked… — Ecclesiastes 8:12-13 (MKJV)
According to Ecclesiastes the only thing not ‘vanity and striving after the wind’ is the fear of God. Does that mean we should become pacifists? Not at all! We must fight evil and stand for what is right. But our chief motivation must be the fear of God. Things may or may not change in our lifetime, they may even get worse. God’s eternal glory is not threatened. We may go down fighting – many of the righteous have done before us – if we fear the Lord it will not be in vain.
Every generation and every individual gets their opportunity to fear God and keep His commandments. In the Old Testament time and time again a God-fearing king or judge restores and builds the nation and then the next generation destroys it and returns to idolatry. This is the cycle of history. Wilberforce and his supporters abolish slavery in 1833, and our generation legalises the torture/murder of babies in the womb. Ultimately, we haven’t progressed. ‘There is nothing new under the sun.’ (Ecclesiastes 1:9)
The last two verses of Ecclesiastes sum it up well. ‘Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter. Fear God, and keep His commandments. For this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it is good, or whether evil.’ (MKJV)
Is God in control? Factor in the reality of death and judgement and there is no question about it. Jesus really is Lord. God is in complete control and His Kingdom is glorious. The real question is, will you be a part of it?