Series Introduction: New Year, New You
Happy New Year, everyone. We’re going to start a short series for the New Year on the popular phrase “New Year, New You”. We’ll be exploring the new elements and things the Gospel provides throughout the progress of Scripture. Today, we’re starting with the very first thing that is new.

Ecclesiastes 1: There Is Nothing New
If you have a Bible, please turn to Ecclesiastes chapter 1. If you can’t find it, you can look it up online or check the bulletin for the spelling.

Ecclesiastes 1:1-11 “The words of the Teacher, son of David, king in Jerusalem: ‘Meaningless! Meaningless!’ says the Teacher. ‘Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless.’
What do people gain from all their labors at which they toil under the sun? Generations come and generations go, but the earth remains forever. The sun rises and the sun sets, and hurries back to where it rises. The wind blows to the south and turns to the north; round and round it goes, ever returning on its course.
All streams flow into the sea, yet the sea is never full. To the place the streams come from, there they return again. All things are wearisome, more than one can say. The eye never has enough of seeing, nor the ear its fill of hearing.
What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun. Is there anything of which one can say, ‘Look! This is something new’? It was here already, long ago; it was here before our time. No one remembers the former generations, and even those yet to come will not be remembered by those who follow them.”

The First New Thing: Nothing is New
The first “new” thing we have to realize is that there is nothing new. Solomon, the son of David and traditionally understood as the author, was known as the wisest man who ever lived. When God offered him anything he wished, Solomon asked for wisdom to guide his people rather than riches or conquest.

In this poetic wisdom literature, Solomon describes the condition of the world as he sees it. He emphasizes that everything is “utterly meaningless” because of the cyclical nature of life. It’s a message that has resonated throughout history.

The Cycle of Futility
This sense of weariness isn’t just ancient; it appears in modern culture, too.


Pink Floyd captured this in their lyrics: “So you run and you run to catch up with the sun but it’s sinking, racing around to come back behind you again. The sun is the same in a relative way but you’re older, shorter of breath, and one day closer to death.”


Socrates expressed the same frustration with the younger generation in the 4th century BC: “The children now love luxury; they have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for their elders.”


Brad Pitt even touched on this in an interview: “The emphasis now is on success and personal gain… once you’ve got everything, then you’re just left with yourself… it doesn’t help you sleep any better.”


The Modern Treadmill
We see this cycle today in our “social media era”. We scroll and scroll, always looking for the next thing to captivate us, yet we never feel satisfied. We look for the “magic pill”—a new diet like “Dry January,” a new schedule, or a productivity hack—hoping it will finally set us on a new course.
But as my son-in-law pointed out on his podcast, being measured by “productivity” can be damaging to the inner man. Efficiency is not the measure of a life. Life “under the sun” is like a treadmill—you run and run, but you don’t actually go anywhere; you just progressively wear yourself out.

Living Beyond the Sun
The purpose of Solomon’s poetry is to lead us to a question: How do I live?
The answer isn’t to live “under the sun,” but to live beyond the sun. If we only live in the horizontal, creator-reality perspective, we will always find life to be futile.
Jesus said, “I’ve come to give you life and that you might have that life to the fullest.” This abundant life is not found under the sun; it comes from the “beyond”. Paul echoes this when he tells us to set our minds on things in heaven, not on earthly things.
The Freedom of the Gospel
When our hearts are rested in Christ’s kingdom beyond the sun, it frees us to live with purpose and power under the sun.


We can work hard with a peaceful heart because we aren’t relying on our work to give us meaning.


We aren’t trying to be “saved” by our “damnable good works” or our best ideas.


We are saved from being anchored to the shifting hopes of this world.


The “Next” Mentality
Think of it like a bit by Jerry Seinfeld: the best position in line isn’t first, it’s second—because then you’re next. If you have the favor, forgiveness, and love of the Father, you already have the “number one” thing. You can let others go before you; you can fail or succeed because your worth is already secured in Him.
When you discover the “meaninglessness” of life under the sun, it actually makes life more joyful because Christ becomes your driving force rather than your own efforts.

Closing Prayer
Father, thank you for the grace you give us. Thank you for reminding us that the things we think matter often don’t, but that life beyond the sun—life in You—is what truly matters. Help us to set our hearts on You so that we can be bold, humble, and purposeful in this world. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

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