A deep-blue shadow was spreading across the city. He looked up to see Adventus moving across the sky, blocking out the sun’s rays. The sky below Adventus looked different. Shimmering. Something was going on beneath the surface. It reminded Jack of the ocean current, with something moving inside it. Was there an invisible river flowing to Adventus?  

He yearned for Erica. He loved Erica and Johnny but knew that was at the emotional level. God is love. Where did that thought come from? It’s an action. Another one.

“The spirit is in communication with you, Jack.”

Jack turned towards the voice. It was the visitor. He stood in front of an opening in the brick wall, which looked like a layer had been peeled away to reveal a hidden passage. He moved toward Jack, holding something in his hand. He held it up and a fine mist covered Jack.

A quietness came over Jack’s mind. In the quietness, he heard what sounded like a trumpet. He wasn’t sure if it was external or internal. He glanced at the people on the streets. Many were looking to the sky.

Many were vanishing.

Encouraged, he entered the passage.

The entrance closed and he sensed the presence of others. Many others.

The visitor looked at him. “You’ll be there shortly.”

“Where?”

“The wedding feast of the Lamb and His bride.”

“The New Jerusalem.”

Jack understood. The holiday.

Humming. A low steady continuous hum. Energy. Murmurs. On all sides, Jack was surrounded by outlines of people in shafts of light. Shadows shot by, millions of beams coming into one. Tubes transporting people. Tunnels of light.

His body no longer fought gravity. There was an absence of weight, anxiety, fear. Instead, a sense of wellbeing, trust, peace.

“We’ll be there shortly,” the visitor said. “We’re currently travelling in a different earthly plane. I suppose you could say a different region of reality—but a good reality.”

Jack had no doubt about that. He looked at his visitor, who was casually dressed in jeans with a plain white t-shirt. Very earthly, although not a wrinkle in sight. Not so earthly. Not even a wrinkle on his face. Definitely not so earthly.

“So you’re my guardian angel?”

“That’s what people like to call us. I’ve been hanging around with you for a while.” He moved his hands around to indicate their surroundings. “Got you to here.”

Jack looked around. Flashes of blues—light and dark—lined the walls of the tunnel. It reminded him of the colours of streams of water and their soothing affect. Yes, blues soothed the soul.  

“You’ll see streams of water again.”

Of course. He could read Jack’s thoughts.

“The New Jerusalem will be beyond your wildest expectation. He’s made all things new, back to the way it was originally planned. The stain has been removed. The curse lifted. The pollution gone. Paradise.”

Jack ran his eyes over his body. What was the purpose of the spray?

“Your body composition has changed and will change further.”

Once again, the visitor was reading his thoughts.

“You are fearfully and wonderfully made, and I’m sure you’re now sensing what a powerful and mighty God we serve. You have entered eternity, something many have spoken about but none fully comprehend. You’re there now. Immortality.”

“Immortal.” That alone was hard to comprehend.

“Can I remind you of God’s word: ‘What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love Him’.”

Those words penetrated Jack’s heart. He’d changed. Immortal? His thought patterns were different. He understood things clearly. Didn’t have to search for hidden meanings. Nothing negative entered his mind. He knew all things were good. There was a complete trust in the events taking place, and a sense of destiny, a sense of belonging.

40 - Immortality

Immortal. Things changing at the cellular level, things way beyond Jack’s understanding. Twitches here and there but no muscles bursting through his shirt. The inner smile enhanced his feeling of wellbeing. More twitches. He was being turned into a real superhero. The world didn’t consider God a superhero, but it seemed He was the only genuine one. He twitched again.

“An orderly adjustment,” his angel said. “Rejuvenation and realigning your body to a heavenly spiritual body—in human form but forever at, say, the age of thirty in old earth terms. Everyone the same age. The elderly will be younger, while the young will progress to that age.”

So he was getting younger. Rejuvenation, reversing the aging process. The strange twitches in his muscles were now barely noticeable.

“We’re traveling a vast distant at an immense speed. Your body is adjusting. We’ll be there soon.”

“I sort of have an idea of where we’re going, but are you able to tell me more?” Jack didn’t mind if he was told or not. This trust thing took away all his doubts.

“Adventus, as you like to call it, is collecting believers from around the world at a speed you wouldn’t be able to comprehend—supernaturally. We’re orbiting the Earth like the moon, but much faster. Once all believers have been caught up—a term used in His word—they’ll be in the presence of the Lord forever.”

“So are we going to be living on a moon, a new planet?”

The angel laughed. “Adventus is a sphere that contains the New Jerusalem. It’s surrounded by a covering to protect the city and to allow travel through vast distances in space. Once collection is complete, Adventus will reach the destination where the Lord said He would return: the Mount of Olives.”

A thought tried to enter his mind. A brief glimpse told him it was a negative one. But it was like the thought hit a brick wall and fell to the ground.

“You’re all at different levels of knowledge.” Again, the angel knew Jack’s thoughts. “The Mount of Olives is where Jesus ascended, and it’s where He will return. Adventus will centrally position itself over the mount and the Lords plans after that, I’m not sure.”

“How big is this city?”

“Massive. It needs to be, to accommodate millions of believers. But there’ll be plenty of room. That’s the way God planned it.”

“I can imagine such planning would be a simple task for the creator of the universe.” On saying that, a feeling of awe and gratitude came over him. It also dawned on him that a city required an infrastructure. People needed to eat, drink, live. He was thinking in old earth terms and looked forward to discovering how such things would be managed in the new earth. Behind it all was the hidden joy that he would see his parents soon.

“Yes, it’s all both simple and amazing. You’ll see.”

Ahead, he saw what he assumed was the end of the tunnel, the end of the staircase, and the outline of a gate. He heard sounds, sweet sounds, like he’d never heard before. And he didn’t feel a drop of anxiety.

A life form resided inside Jack. He sensed its presence flooding his own being. Peace. He’d been rescued. God spoke to his heart. Welcome.

In an instant he was beside Erica and Johnny. How beautiful they both looked. Erica’s parents stood beside them. Joy flooded into his heart as his parents came from behind Erica and Johnny. The hugs were another piece of heaven—totally consuming him. Through watery eyes, he saw Cath in the distance, surrounded by her family. Sheila stood close by, next to a man who looked like an older version of Wiley. His father, maybe? So God brought those with recent interactions close by? Oh, it was so easy to slip into detective mode and so easy to slip out of it.

Jack stared at his parents. How long had it been? Years, but it didn’t matter. Inexpressible joy filled his heart. He still had his arm resting on his dad’s shoulder when Johnny came over and looked up at his grandad.

“You look like my dad, maybe better-looking and a bit wiser.”