Everything that God does will remain forever
[Ecclesiastes 3:14]
What do we gain from all our labors at which we toil in this world? (Eccle. 1:3) What is the use of pleasure that we enjoy in this world? (2:2) What do we get for all the toil and anxious striving with which we labor in this world? (2:22) What do we gain from our toil? (3:9)
This is what the Teacher King Solomon said: “All his days his work is pain and grief; even at night his mind does not rest. This too is meaningless” (2:23). All our days our work is pain and grief, even at night our minds do not rest but we gain nothing (2:23; 5:15) but only sorrow, how useless is that? We will take nothing from our labor that we can carry in our hand (v. 15). Then how shall we live? What should we labor for?
This is what the Teacher King Solomon said in Ecclesiastes 3:14 – “everything God does will endure forever”. What is “everything” that God does that will last forever? Of course, we can not understand everything God does from beginning to end (v. 11). However, according to what God reveals through the Bible, what God does is the Lord's "eternal salvation" (Isa. 45:17). Here, the Lord's eternal salvation is God loves us with everlasting love (Jer 31: 3) he chose us in Christ before the creation of the world and in love he predestined us (Eph. 1:4-5) in order to give us eternal life (1 Jn. 2:25) and to enter us into the eternal kingdom of the Savior Jesus Christ (Ps. 145: 13; 2 Pet. 1:11) to give us “eternal glory that far outweighs them all” (2 Cor. 4:17). In a word, all that God does forever is to "give us salvation in Christ Jesus with eternal glory" (2 Tim. 2:10). In fulfilling this, God delivers his only begotten Son Jesus on the cross so that He can deliver us from ‘eternal wrath’ (Mal 1: 4) and ‘receiving the punishment of everlasting fire’ (Jude 1: 7) and lead us to eternal glory (1 Pet. 5:10) “the eternal house in heaven” (2 Cor. 5: 1).
God has given us a longing for eternity (Eccle. 3:11). Therefore, we should desire eternity. We must yearn for the eternal Lord's eternal kingdom (Ps. 145: 13). Though we will suffer a little while we live on the earth, we thank God for the grace of salvation that the God of all grace calls us into Christ to enter into his eternal glory (1 Pet. 5:10). We must humbly join the work of God's eternal salvation. To do so, we must obey God’s calling (1 Cor. 7:22; Rom. 1:6; Rev. 17:14) as we fear God (Eccle. 3:14). And as we are Christ’s servants, we must proclaim the eternal gospel of Jesus Christ (Rev. 14:6). I hope and pray that we all can participate in God’s work of saving souls by preaching the eternal gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ (Phil. 1:5, 7), whether we eat or drink or whatever we do, for the glory of God (1 Cor. 10:31).