Great White Throne (33 page)

I remember the baby in the chamber under the Dome—as if filling with the dragon’s darkness and evil—but then I remember my own darkness washed white in Christ’s light before the throne. “It’s still hard to fathom.”

“Sin was relentless,” Naomi says, “almost as relentless as the Lord’s love. Only one could win.” She raises her arms into the air, as if to emphasize the weightlessness of this place without sin. “But they had to fight, because we had to choose.”

My Mom has been listening to us, watching, and now she says, “I think they’re ready.”

“For what?” I ask.

“Eternity is not stagnant,” Elizabeth says. “We will grow forever closer to the light, forever fuller and richer. And, whenever we wish, we may visit the King. We can bring glory to Him.”

My Mom nudges us out the door. “Come on! See for yourself!”

THE FOUR OF us go down the elevator and leave the building. Naomi leads us in a song. We walk down a street of gold to the light, and others join us.
 

I see familiar faces everywhere—angels and humans. Ronaldo, Moses, Zhang Tao and his wife Xi, Tristan and Mara, Neo and little kids from his camp. Even Wade Brown. And so many more. They’re all alive. They’re walking with us, singing.
 

Tears of joy fill my eyes. My voice streams forward and channels into the flood of the voices around me. The song lifts us and carries us together to the light. We are the praise. We are one.

We stand before the light now, before God. Nothing separates us. His brilliance leaves no shadow. Every nook and cranny of my being is exposed, and it is wonderful. I feel naked and innocent and wrapped in warmth.

I turn to Naomi. I remember that, once, on earth, her face glowed. This is different. Her face shines with the same light at the center, as if the light has poured into her and now it overflows. We cannot contain this light, yet it courses through our glorified bodies, in and out of me, in and out of her. I wonder at what we look like from a distance, but then I look back at the center. That is what we look like. We are wrapped up in the pillar of light—becoming light. We radiate like candles of the same chandelier, all lit with the same fire, and the fire is God.

“Elijah,” says Jesus. His right hand clasps my shoulder. “Naomi,” he says, his other hand on her shoulder. He is between us, smiling with such joy that it makes me laugh.

“You see life everlasting as my Father planned? You see the I AM.”

I am nodding. I can’t answer, can’t find the words, but I don’t need them. He understands.

I respond by joining the song around me. Naomi does, too. Our voices glorify God. It is like the love and joy of every wedding day combined, and more. Awash in this love, Jesus walks and dances into the pillar of light, where he joins the Father and the Spirit as one. I don’t think of what will come next. I am lost in this moment, this eternity—the time that never stops, that I never want to stop, and that never will stop.

AUTHOR PAGE

I hope you enjoyed
Great White Throne
and The Omega Trilogy. If so, please share the word and post a
review on Amazon
. With your help, perhaps this story will bring others to live in revelation. 1 Corinthians 2:10.

If the technology in this book intrigued you, check out my short story,
No God in the Machine
. Read it in a few minutes and you’ll never think about machines the same way again. Get your free copy
here
.

* * *

J.B. Simmons lives outside Washington, DC, with his wife and three little kids. He writes before dawn and runs all day. His secret fuel: coffee and leftover juice boxes. Learn more at
www.jbsimmons.com
.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Thanks to Lindsay for making my writing possible, inspiring the big questions, and honing my words. Thanks to my Inklings writer friends, Michael and Danny, for being honest as iron—sharpening my stories and me. Thanks to The Falls Church Anglican for teaching the truth. Thanks to the fantastic beta-readers: Michael, Danny, Anne, Ryan, Jean, Jim, and Laurel. And, finally, thanks to you for reading my work and sharing the word. The journey would not have been complete without you.
 

OTHER WORKS BY J.B. SIMMONS

THE GLOAMING BOOKS

Light in the Gloaming

Breaking the Gloaming

In the
Gloaming
books, J.B. Simmons weaves political philosophy into fantasy, like
A Game of Thrones
with a C.S. Lewis twist. The characters champion history’s great thinkers, from Machiavelli to Locke to Nietzsche, and bring them to battle, even in the darkest of underground cities: The Gloaming.
 

“Tightly crafted . . . thoroughly entertaining . . . a real triumph to creative literature and well deserving of its stars.”
Sara Bain, author

“A great mix of fantasy, adventure, and allegory.”
Sunshine Somerville, author