"vain" simply means "empty." This is the concept we find throughout the book of Ecclesiastes, “Vanity of vanities, all is vanity." What a contrast to our hope in the resur rection of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the assurance of sharing eter nal life with Him (I Peter 1:3). Life, frankly, is not worth living, even if there is a God, if there is no hope for victory over the grave and eter nal life. Solomon, with faltering faith, could not anticipate the com ing of the Saviour. He did not know how to rejoice with Job in a Re deemer who alone could release one from the agony of life. In our resurrected Saviour that hope is fixed and firm. We have, as Peter points out, a “ lively" or a "living" hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.
ally and spiritually—who have cut across the basic commandments of God's Word. There is also the reason to obey God because He alone knows how we can receive maximum enjoy ment out of life. Since God created us upright, it is extremely unwise to seek out devices which basically seek to undercut God's Word. Time Magazine had an article about an artist who was supposed to be the best violin teacher in the country. Many , outstanding musi cians had gone to him for $50-an- hour lessons. The man had an exacting technique. In fact, one pupil who was rather an accom plished violinist before going for lessons had to practice only the A-minor scale for the first sixth months. It was his discipline. The teacher wisely observed, “Suffer ing through exercises liberates." And that has a parallel here, too. For learning God's ways liberates man from self and Satan, freeing him for his fullest potential. Only when you master the basic prin ciples can you be free to explore all the abilities that you might have. A car will operate only when cer tain basic regulations are followed. A musician can really have the free dom to produce the music he wants when he has mastered the tech nique. A Christian is free to enjoy his body in this life only when he puts into practice principles that the Creator has deemed essential for us. In I Corinthians 15:14 Paul gives us a phrase that is almost identical to that found in Ecclesiastes. He declares, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, “And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching in vain." In the Greek, the word for
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