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"One generation passes away"

Text: Ecclesiastes 1:4

THE LIMITATIONS OF HUMAN LIFE

One of the most frustrating problems that was faced was the fact that human life seems so very limited!

“What profit has a man from all his labour
In which he toils under the sun?
One generation passes away, and another generation comes;
But the earth abides forever.”
Ecclesiastes 1:3-4

1. “What profit has a man from all his labour in which he toils under the sun?”

a) The labour of man

i) He toils under the sun.

ii) He works very hard to make a living.

b) The question of profit

i) His question was not about remuneration.

ii) A labourer deserves to be paid what he is worth.

c) There was a deeper issue. This was raised in the next verse.

2. “One generation passes away, and another generation comes”

a) Man may be described as belonging to a generation.

b) Individually or as a generation, it passes away.

c) It is replaced by another generation.

d) But every generation toils away from beginning to end.

3. “But the earth abides forever”

a) The earth, on the other hand, abides forever.

b) It does not pass away as human beings do. This thought troubled the Preacher.

4. The contrast between human life and the earth

a) Human life seems more valuable but it passes away.

b) The earth, on the other hand, abides forever!

c) This thought somehow made the Preacher quite upset.

5. What was the real profit

a) If all too soon, life ends.

b) What real profit is there in putting in so much toil to make a living, only to die?