Tuesday, September 5, 2017

Final Destination...Final Salvation



Most mornings I can't recall much about my dreams. They usually end up being some hazy fog of faces with no name; just a twisted story with no plot. But this morning was different. This morning I awoke with a dream fully formed and executed in my mind. Every detail was fresh, down to the feelings I'd had and the clear blue sky I'd seen during the vision that came to me as I slept.

This particular dream played out like a real-life drama. I was sitting in the driver's seat of my car, the very same black SUV I drive now. I was the first car stopped at the red light of a familiar intersection just a mile from home. The opposing traffic received their go-ahead first. I waited as cars whizzed past me to my left, foot poised to hit the gas as soon as my eyes saw the light up ahead turn green.
But I never got to see that light change colors. Before the opposing traffic's light turned red a deep metallic blue Silverado Chevy truck came barreling through the intersection in my direction. The man behind the wheel was traveling at a quick clip with a trailer attached to the back hatch. I watched helplessly as the truck swayed back and forth, crossed the center line and veered to the left, out of his lane and into my own.
Headed straight for the hood of my car I watched with no where to go as the truck got closer and closer. I can still see the emblem on the truck's hood as it grew larger and larger.
In those brief seconds I came into contact with an inescapable reality: impact.
As clear as can be, five words formed on my lips and filled those final seconds: "Alright God, lets do this."
Those final words were a final surrender. In the very last seconds, with five thousand pounds of metal bearing down upon me, five words declared a loud my declaration of faith, absolute assurance and unshakable trust in God and His sovereignty.
And then it hit.
The truck hood met with mine and threw my car backwards and to the left, passing over the opposing lanes of traffic and down a small hill. I could see glass shattering into a million pieces. I could feel the weight of my body flying straight up before the force of impact pushed my vehicle backwards. As my SUV went sliding down the hill I felt my back slam into the lumbar of my driver's seat and saw the air bag release into my chest. 
It should have hurt. I should have been aware of the blood covering me and the glass piercing me. But that's not what happened. At least that's not what I recall from the dream. In the cabin of my car, as it went careening down the hill to land in the empty parking lot below, a much different experience unfolded. My final salvation.
At that moment in my dream my body was ultimately destroyed. I died. The incredible force of the truck's impact was so tragic. My fragile body couldn't withstand the blow. Yet I didn't eel a thing. Not a single moment of pain.
As my car went air born, so did my soul. It was as if my spirit was lifted up and out of my body so that I could experience the accident and watch it unfold without enduring a moment of suffering, agony or pain. I could see the tragic earthly image but I couldn't feel it.

At that moment my salvation was made final. Transcended above the scene of my departure I experienced the glorious salvation of my soul. The physical world faded away without so much as a twinge of discomfort. I was carried away on a bed of peace and serenity as my spirit passed over into another world, the everlasting world. With a gentle, soft and loving hand I was transported out of my crushed car and through the golden gates of eternal life.
And then I woke up.
That was it. Impact and then, puff, salvation. It was painless. It wasn't even like pulling off a band-aid where the sting lasts for a moment. There was no pain in death. No sting at all. At the moment that my body met its final blow, all I experienced was the perfect peace of salvation and the eternal glory of Heaven.
When I awoke with the dream fully formed and fresh in my mind I noticed that I had a broad smile across my face. I had just been given a precious glimpse of eternal life, a peak into the magnificent promise of my soul's salvation.

I don't know if my dream will ever come to pass. I certainly am not here to make such a bold claim but I am here to declare that I am not afraid no matter how my final impact comes to pass. If it be in a car accident or after a long struggle with a devastating disease, I have no fear because no matter what end I meet here on earth I know it is just that; only earth's ending. When my body here breaths its last I will be breathing my first gasp of heavenly air. As my body gives out my soul will already be rejoicing in eternal glory.
From my dream I was given a glimpse of the life that lives on. It is the spiritual life that matters. Every earthly life will die and every body will fail. Some will succumb to an illness, others will be snuffed out in a tragedy. No matter what the cause, when the final impact hits the body's condition won't matter. Pain won't matter. Organs won't matter. Ability or disability. Ill or full of health. None of it will matter anymore.
All that will last is the soul. All that will matter is salvation.

Dear Reader my question for you tonight is what would happen to your soul in the cabin of your car if it all came to a final blow today? If this dream of mine became your reality, where would your salvation rest? On whose wings would you be lifted out of the destruction and saved from eternal peril?
I urge you, Friend, not to spend another moment behind the wheel of your car, or the wheel of your life, without the assurance of salvation. With Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior you can know how your story ends. Tonight, right here in this moment, you can have the assurance of eternal life and eternity in Heaven.

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