Okay, so now I have your attention. And no, this is not a cheap trick to lure you in. I meant the title above quite literally. Human often has thought they are superior to all of creation due to their intelligence. Yes, CREATION. We often analyze a question, or a problem, or a situation to get to the bottom of things. We progress along the way in knowledge as we know more, but either we find there is more questions like discovering a long black tunnel or invariably we will come to a ?, a question mark, at the end of the quest.
We have to admit at some point in time, that we are very limited in our own little human intelligence, a race as a whole. Only then can we recognize and confess that how humble our “intelligence” really is. And with that critical point acknowledged, can we then be modest with our intelligence. Just think, there was a time not so very long ago, when humans believed that the earth is flat.
Everything is Meaningless. King Solomon apparently the wisest man ever lived, had devoted himself to study and explore with wisdom all that is done under the sun (Ecc 1:13). He wanted to see what was worthwhile for people to do during the “few days of their lives”, a short span (Ecc 2:3). He wanted to know what a man gains for all his toil (Ecc 3:9). He took us on his own journey to answer these questions. Ecclesiastes chronicles his experimentation with wisdom, folly, pleasure, laughter, wine, great projects, wealth accumulation, sex, and hard work.
I applied my mind to study and to explore by wisdom all that is done under the heavens. What a heavy burden God has laid on the human race! I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind. Ecclesiastes 1:13-14
Alas, there is nothing but frustrations. Solomon demolishes even the possibility of finding any meaning apart from God. He wants us to see this: Apart from God, life has no meaning.
So looking back, does it satisfy our intelligence more that we came from animals that swing on trees and that where we come from and where we end up is of no meaning whatsoever, a chasing after the wind? Or the more promising and comforting knowledge that there is a greater intelligence, a higher sovereignty, a loving and personal God above us, that is hoping for us to be liberated and brought into the freedom and glory?
For 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 8:20-21
Which will you choose?
