God's plan to save the world

In the recent days and weeks, if you watch the news, it can be easy to get caught up in the Chicken Little stories. Serious-looking news people tell us how tight the presidential race is and how important it is to get the "right" person in power. At the same time, disheveled financial types yell at us that the economic sky is falling and the world is coming to an end. And in the midst of all this, a rumor is swirling that Brad and Angelina have broken up. It's almost enough to make you wonder if God's still on His throne.

But the truth is written in scripture that God has a plan to save the world. We know that Jesus "...did not come to judge the world, but to save it." (John 12:47) But, Jesus is gone, at least physically, so how does that work now? In the midst of all the trouble and turmoil, what is God's plan to save the world?

It's written here:

God's Message,
the God who created the cosmos, stretched out the skies,
laid out the earth and all that grows from it,
Who breathes life into earth's people,
makes them alive with his own life:
"I am God. I have called you to live right and well.
I have taken responsibility for you, kept you safe.
I have set you among my people to bind them to me,
and provided you as a lighthouse to the nations,
To make a start at bringing people into the open, into light:
opening blind eyes,
releasing prisoners from dungeons,
emptying the dark prisons. - Isaiah 42:5-7 (The Message)

Right there. Did you see it? God is talking about bringing people into light, opening blind eyes, releasing prisoners. And how? Through his secret plan. Read it again:

I have set you among my people to bind them to me,
and provided you as a lighthouse to the nations,
To make a start at bringing people into the open, into light...

See that? God's plan to save the world? It's YOU. You have been called to bind His people to Him. You have been called to start bringing people into the light, release people from the prisons. You are called to spread the message. How, you wonder, can you save the world? You can't- but God can, and will, through you. Through telling your friends, through giving your time and money, and through serving in His kingdom, you (and I) can work to bring heaven to earth. Giving a little of ourselves will help bring up there to down here.