Is there anything really new?

This weekend, I attended a lecture, where the speaker put forward 4 questions based on Ecclesiastes 1:10. Over the next few weeks, I'd like to concentrate on these questions, starting with 'Is there anything really new?'

Soloman asked this question: "Is there anything of which it may be said 'see, this is new'?" Ecclesiastes 1:10. It depends how you look at it. A deeper question may be asked: is there something that gives real happiness? Man has tried everything, just as Soloman writes in Ecclesiastes 1:3-8:  
"What profit has a man from all his labor
In which he toils under the sun? 
One generation passes away, and another generation comes; But the earth abides forever. 
The sun also rises, and the sun goes down, And hastens to the place where it arose. 
The wind goes toward the south, And turns around to the north;
The wind whirls about continually, And comes again on its circuit. 
All the rivers run into the sea, Yet the sea is not full;
To the place from which the rivers come, There they return again. 
All things are full of labor;
Man cannot express it.
The eye is not satisfied with seeing,
Nor the ear filled with hearing."

Soloman contemplates all of this and has the conclusion "Vanity of vanities, all is vanity" Ecclesiastes 1:2. So many people are saying "2016 was so bad, 2017 will be better!" If it didn't work for 2016, it will not work either for 2017. The new year will not bring anything new fundamentally, we need something else. We need the Lord Jesus.