"A People Belonging To God"

In matters of faith and religion, there are many debates on different theological positions and on different interpretations of the Bible. The discussions of these can be endless. When you boil it all down, what would you say is the overall point of the Bible and the Christian faith? Is there an overarching theme?

I would argue that the primary reason the world and mankind was created by God was to develop a group of people that would be His forever. Consider the following:

• 1 Peter 2:9-10 - "But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful life. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God ..."

• Titus 2:13-14 - "... while we wait for the blessed hope - the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good."

• Deuteronomy 26:19 - "He has declared that he will set you in praise, fame and honor high above all the nations he has made and that you will be a people holy to the LORD your God ..."

• Ephesians 2:19 - "Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household ..."

God doesn't need humans in order to be complete. But, for some reason, He decided He wanted a people "that are his very own".

Pascal's Wager

Blaise Pascal (1623-1662) was a French mathematician, physicist, and religious philosopher. He developed an interesting way to look at the question of the existence (or not) of God. He argued that a person should "wager" as though God exists, because in living in this way, that person has everything to gain and nothing to lose. His reasoning can be summarized as follows:

• If I believe and God exists - I'll be happy for eternity and have infinite gain.
• If I believe and God does not exist - I've lost nothing and gained nothing.
• If I do not believe and God exists - I'll be punished for eternity and have infinite loss.
• If I do not believe and God does not exist - I've lost nothing and gained nothing.

So, why not live for God and "wager" on infinite gain for all eternity?