The Big Picture

If anyone wants to come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul? (Matthew 16:24–26)

Solomon begins his existential treatise with the question: “What does man gain by all the toil at which he toils under the sun?” (Ecclesiastes 1:3) He answers the question with an answer that may surprise us with its stark, blunt reality:

All things are full of weariness; a man cannot utter it; the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing. What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun. Is there a thing of which it is said, “See, this is new”? It has been already in the ages before us. There is no remembrance of former things, nor will there be any remembrance of later things yet to be among those who come after. . . . I have seen everything that is done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity and a striving after wind (Ecclesiastes 1:8–11, 14).

One of the reasons why I believe the book of Ecclesiastes is the near-perfect place to start a Bible study with someone who may know little-to-nothing about God’s word is that it dares to ask the questions that almost everyone will ask at some moment in their lives. There will be for almost everyone something that happens that serves as a catalyst for the deep, hard questions of life. Maybe the unexpected death of someone who is close them. Maybe a world event that scares them. Something happens, and we — from that moment — begin questioning almost everything.

Again, the book of Ecclesiastes as a whole observes the tragedies and injustices of life and doesn’t pretend not to see them. As a matter of fact, Solomon stares at the injustices:

Moreover, I saw under the sun that in the place of justice, even there was wickedness, and in the place of righteousness, even there was wickedness. I said in my heart, God will judge the righteous and the wicked, for there is a time for every matter and for every work. . . . If you see in a province the oppression of the poor and the violation of justice and righteousness, do not be amazed at the matter, for the high official is watched by a higher, and there are yet higher ones over them (Ecclesiastes 3:16–17; 5:8).

Solomon does not merely wax eloquent about all the things “under the sun” — whether good or bad — that he sees. He comes to a conclusion:

The Teacher searched to find appropriate expressions, and what is written here is right and truthful. Sayings from the wise are like cattle prods and well fastened nails; this masterful collection was given by one shepherd. So learn from them, my son. There is no end to the crafting of many books, and too much study wearies the body. Let the conclusion of all of these thoughts be heard: Fear God and obey his commandments, for this is what it means to be human. For God will judge every deed, along with every secret, whether good or evil (Ecclesiastes 12:10–14).

Jesus asked: What will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? The word “forfeit” is a word found six times in the New Testament Greek. Three times we find the word used in quoting Jesus as we have here in Matthew 16:26 and the parallel synoptic passages of Mark 8:36; Luke 9:25. The other three times this Greek word is used are all in Paul’s letters: 1 Corinthians 3:15; 2 Corinthians 7:9 and Philippians 3:8 where we find the word translated “suffer loss.” The idea is complete loss, not just a misplacement with the potential to find what we’ve lost. Forfeiture of our soul means complete loss of our souls. What shall a man give in return for his soul?

What do any of us have that we could offer in exchange to God in return for our soul? God’s grace provides everything:

Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food. . . . Seek the Lord while he may be found; call upon him while he is near; let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon (Isaiah 55:1–2, 6–7).

We should stop and think about the big picture; to consider and praise God for His immeasurable grace:

We know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. . . . What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? . . . As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us (Romans 8:28, 31–32, 36–37).

The Past Is Passed

Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus (Philippians 3:13–14).

Too often people have assumed that Paul is referring to one’s past failures. But in the larger context of the chapter, Paul is actually addressing the past’s successes.

For we are the true circumcision, who worship in the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh, although I myself might have confidence even in the flesh. If anyone else has a mind to put confidence in the flesh, I far more: circumcised the eighth day, of the nation of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the Law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to the righteousness which is in the Law, found blameless (Philippians 3:3–6).

Paul’s point in mentioning these things — even his zeal for God as revealed by his persecution of the church — is that “whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ” (verses 7–8).

The word “rubbish,” by the way, means more than just trash. The Greek word is only found here in the New Testament, but it is used in other ancient sources as dung — “The vulgar term stresses the force of the renunciation he has made for Christ’s sake” (Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, abridged, p. 1052).

OUR TROPHIES ARE TRASH

And so the real point — and maybe even the difficult point to accept — is that our trophies, our successes, when compared to the surpassing value of knowing Christ, are not merely to be thrown away, but are as revolting to us as dung.

KNOWING THE LORD

“Thus says the Lord, ‘Let not a wise man boast of his wisdom, and let not the mighty man boast of his might, let not a rich man boast of his riches; but let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the Lord who exercises lovingkindness, justice and righteousness on earth; for I delight in these things,” declares the Lord” ( Jeremiah 9:23–24).

Do we delight in knowing God? Is He nothing more than an afterthought, or acquaintance? The relationship God is seeking with us is likened to a father/son relationship (Romans 8:12–17; Hebrews 2:10–13). But beyond this relationship, God likens His relationship with the church as a husband and wife (Ephesians 5:25–33; Revelation 21:2, 9).

Again, the past — with its inherent successes and failures — is passed. “Say not, ‘Why were the former days better than these?’ For it is not from wisdom that you ask this” (Ecclesiastes 7:10). Satan sometimes traps us in the past. We dwell on things that, in the grand scheme, do not matter to our soul’s salvation.

Letting go of past failings is difficult enough, but it is especially challenging to release our minds from dwelling on our past successes. But if we value Christ and an eternal home in Heaven, then we will cling to Him as Paul did — “not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead” (Philippians 3:9–11).