Somewhere in eternity...

A city stood. A city grand and high, whiter than pearl, shining with radiance not imaginable by any mortal. Like the most intricately worked and grandly structured cathedral it towered, with high spires and turrets, with domes and arches, walkways and balconies, bridges that breached gaps that reached almost infinitely down to the crystal-clear gold paved streets which they overpassed. Everything shone brighter than the sun: all the beautifully and uniquely sculpted artwork of divine design that covered every square inch of architecture. From the walls of the towers to the flying buttresses that supported them, from the support columns of the handrails on the walkways and overpasses to the very tip of the many upward-thrusting spires, nothing was left uncovered by intricate and beautiful works of art and sculpture, all glorifying to God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

The endless array of heavenly architecture reflected the light that surrounded all things in Heaven, the light that overpowered all other lights, the Light that shone in the darkness of the world.

At the very pinnacle of the formations of structures, atop the utmost steeple, there was a sea of glass. As clear as crystal it was, deep and wide. At the midst of the sea of crystal was an alter, on top of which were burning coals and flames which sent the sweet smell of smoldering perfume up to the nostrils of the One who sat on the throne that was at the center of the sea of glass. The throne was glowing with power, sending out thunder and lightening, flashing with energy in a dazzling display of sparkles like the sparkle of light on a fine diamond. Around the throne was a rainbow of brilliant emerald colors. The One who sat on that throne was beyond comparison to anything else in all of time or space, or what laid beyond time and space; for He had created it all. Clothed in what could only be described as pure glory, the most royal splendor that could ever be achieved, God the Father shone with the light of absolute, supreme holy power. His face gave light to the universe. His crown of authority blazed with the sparkle of innumerable precious stones embedded in finest gold. Seated at His right hand was His Son, the Lion and the Lamb, called Jesus. His feet and hands were like bronze, glowing with the heat of a thousand furnaces. His royal garment shimmered with powerful light, and His face was like the light of the sun, with two blazing eyes of fire gazing out on all His creation. He wore the crown of a most holy and triumphant King. Before the throne of God and Jesus stood a golden menorah. A lamp stand with seven torches, burning brighter than all the stars in the universe that God had created. The menorah was the seven-fold Holy Spirit of God, who pleaded with God for the souls of all His righteous people.

This was Heaven. The very throne room of God Almighty. The ultimate hope of all members of mankind, those made in the image of God.

And one comes here now.

At the edge of the sea of glass, two angels escorted a soul, and prompted him forward towards God as they returned to their posts after giving a reverent bow towards the Lord. The soul didn't need any prompting, as he began to run forward across the sea of glass, passed the altar, and bowed low before the throne of God. The soul appeared to be like someone in the prime of his life, dressed in fine, shining white clothes.

"My Lord..." the soul said, still bowed low to the crystalline ground.
"Welcome, my child," the deep bass voice of God the Father boomed across the throne room.
The soul looked up at God, into the face of the Divine Creator, and found himself completely transparent in the eyes of the Almighty. The soul laid still as he saw a vision of every moment of his life... everything he had done, good and bad... and he knew that what he was seeing was everything about his life that the Lord had seen.

But the vision was strange. The soul could barely make out the parts where he was doing evil things... they were covered in what seemed to be a thick, red curtain of flowing liquid. He wouldn't have recognized those particular past events if he didn't remember them himself.
The soul could feel the pleasure of the Lord when he saw parts of his life where he was doing good. But, even stranger than the blood curtain which hid his sinful times was the deep, unspeakable love of the Father that he felt when his sinful times were reviewed. He knew that that love was connected to the blood curtain itself.

"Arise in My presence", Jesus said, "you who are blessed of My Father."
The soul quickly put his head back down to the ground. "Lord... Jesus... I'm not worthy to rise in Your presence. I am not holy!"
"Look at Me" whispered God. This surprised the soul remained still. "Look up at me, my child" the Father whispered again.
When the soul looked up this time, he noticed that when he looked in the eyes of the Lord, a red light washed over him, like looking up at the sun from the bottom of a pool of red water. It was the same red liquid that hid his past sins from view. Looking at that light in God's eyes was like looking at the source of all love, the wellspring of passionate mercy and forgiveness.
"I see you through the blood of My Son Jesus the Messiah. His blood which He shed on a Roman cross filters out all of your sins when I look at you. Through Jesus's perfection, I cannot see your imperfection. Your rebellions are gone because they are forgotten by Me."

"This is the time of your reward, my friend, not the time of your condemnation!" Jesus said. "You have come here to drink of My love and be with Me forever. Now, arise! I will show you the final word on your destiny."
The soul rose in a reverently slow manner until he was standing at attention before the Lord of glory.
From out of the throne of God a huge book appeared. Bound in a cover that was soaked by the blood of the Lamb, it had writing on its cover in huge golden letters... letters which the soul didn't have to read to know what was contained in that book. The book was taken up by Jesus.
"You know what this is" Jesus said. "You've always believed that your name was in this book."
"It's... that's..." The soul could hardly contain himself at the thought of what he was looking at. "...that's THE LAMB'S BOOK OF LIFE!" exclaimed the soul.
Jesus' powerful, radiant hands opened the covers, and flipped the pages right to the place that He was looking for. Listed on the page, written in His own blood, was the name of the soul that was standing before Him. Jesus turned the Book towards the soul so he could see its contents.
"Your name has been found in My Book of Life, right where it has always been ever since you made Me your master. Your sins have been erased forever, paid for before you were even born."
The great Judge smiled down at the soul, and arose from His throne. The soul stood tall, filled with the glory of his faith, energized by the Holy Spirit; he was ready to meet the reward which he had pursued so valiantly during the recently ended years that God had given him on Earth.

"Hold it right there!" came a scratchy, sniveling voice from the edge of the sea of glass.
A burst of flame, a cloud of noxious, sulfurous smoke, appeared from nowhere. Emerging from the disturbance was a pitifully hideous creature indeed. It appeared that, at one time, it had had the form of an angel; but now was covered in scales like a lizard. Its wings were tattered and torn, covered in lesions, its form saturated with brimstone-like soot. It was hunched over, limping, and had a seared appearance to its scaly hide.
It started to make its way forward towards the throne of God.

"You can't give a ruling yet! The prosecution hasn't given all of its evidence!" it yelled out as best it could, barely able to form the words before exploding in a fit of coughs, hacks, and monstrous wheezings.
The soul turned around to see what was going on. The Devil continued to limp forward, dragging himself with each step, lugging a huge black book with him. Again he yelled out: "You don't have all the facts straight, God! This soul is condemned! He's nothing but a dirty, rotten, sinner!"
Another explosion of coughing, as Satan finally reached the throne of God, and bowed low out of dreadful fear.

"And just what do you have that is relevant to this?" Jesus demanded.
"I don't know how you missed everything that I got him to do back on Earth," the Devil responded, "but I've got enough right here to get him a nice warm spot in the lake of fire". The Devil pointed at his big black book, which appeared to have been soaked in murky water. "This record book is just for this guy! Look how big it is!" He flipped over a few pages in the book with his mutilated talons. "Look at this!" he said, turning the book around so Jesus could see the soggy pages. "Look! You remember what he did back then? Before he knew you? It's all here!" He flipped over a few more pages, and again turned the book so Jesus could review the text. "And how about all this stuff? This is what he did even after he was..." Satan choked a little bit on the next word, "... saved."

Now the soul continued to stand firmly before the Lord. He could have been intimidated by the breathtakingly ugly monster presenting his every wrongdoing to God. But instead he was filled with an anger, a hot, fiery indignation against this insolent creature who dared try to undo what God had worked so hard to do, which was to reconcile this imperfect soul with His perfect self!
"Where did you get this book?" Jesus demanded of Satan.
"I rescued it after you threw it away!" Satan replied proudly, as if he had accomplished something heroic.
"I threw the record of his sins away into the Sea of Forgetfulness when he was saved!" Jesus's all-commanding voice boomed out. "I remember them no more! Only you remember his sins because you, you lowly imp, saved the record of them to use against him!"
Jesus continued, "you seem to forget that that book is the list of your plans. Including all the evil you had planned for him that never happened, because I put a stop to it by the power of my blood!"
At the mention of the blood, Satan fell over backwards, screaming at the top of his long ruined lungs, writhing in agony.

He also dropped his book.

"I remember no sins for this one," Jesus continued, rising from His throne, "because he accepted the sacrifice that I made for him. He accepted my blood that I shed for him on the cross, and his sins were gone that instant!"
Satan was still screaming and rolling around on the floor like someone had set him on fire. "No! Enough! Stop talking!"
"You have no power over this one! The verdict on this soul is innocent!" Jesus proclaimed mightily. "Now, away with you!" He shouted at the serpent.

A strong wind blew across the throne room of heaven as Jesus spread His arms wide. Satan started to roll away across the Sea of Glass, skipping across its surface like a stone across a lake. Finally he disappeared in a burst of flame. As drops of blood flowed out of the wounds Jesus received in His hands on the cross, the blood blew onto Satan's book. The dark red liquid impacted the spine and cover of the mucky book, touching off sparks and flames that devoured the book, its ashes quickly blowing away into oblivion.

The wind died down. Jesus returned to His seat on His throne. The soul stood still in awe and wonder... and relief. His fight was over. There was no more condemnation against him. His faith in his God had triumphed.
God turned His attention fully back to the soul standing before Him. "Now, my child," God said, "you have been faithful in small matters. So now you shall receive the reward of greatness!"
The soul kneeled down before Jesus. Jesus, the Lord of Glory, with loving hands of righteous power, placed a shining, jewel-studded crown on the head of the soul. It was the Crown of Life, which signified his eternal life in God's presence. And it could not ever, ever be taken away.
The soul stood up and again faced the Lord.
"That is not all," said Jesus, "while you were on Earth, not only did you accept my salvation, but you faithfully fulfilled the great commission that I gave to you, to preach My Good News to all the world. You told those that I placed around you about My love so they could know Me too. Because of your faithfulness to Me, others will receive crowns of life. Therefore, you will receive crowns of glory."
With those words, Jesus produced a number of crowns, different in form from the Crown of Life, but shining with the same kind of holy glory. One for each person that the soul had saved during his time on Earth.

The soul fell to his knees in worship.
"Lord," he said, "can I ask you something?"
"Yes?" Jesus responded.
"Lord, I remember witnessing to some people during my life on Earth, but not as many as the number of crowns You're holding. How can I get so many crowns?"
Jesus looked lovingly at this faithful soul. "You did indeed directly witness to people during your life", He said. "Directly telling people of Me is very important to leading their souls to salvation. However, that is not the only way to save souls. Without realizing it, you witnessed of My glory just by the way you lived your life."
The soul stared at Jesus, awaiting a little further elaboration.
"You were kind to those who were broken hearted. You gave charity to those who were in need. You gave forgiveness to those who harmed you. By simply living the holy life that I commanded for all of My flock, you made an extra impact on the lives of others that you didn't know about. Those around you took notice of your life, how you lived, and how you were blessed. Blessed not always with riches or material things, but with a peace and a hope that is strange and alien to those outside the Light. Some of them ventured into My Light to find Me. And now, my brother, here is your reward."
Jesus presented the crowns to the soul. "Now, enjoy your eternal life! Forever you will live with Me in My kingdom." It was the very moment the soul had yearned for during all his years of life on earth, knowing that it would come, at last, one day. "Well done, My good and faithful servant!" Jesus said, His voice full of love and triumphant comfort. "Enter into the joy of your Lord, forever!"

The soul once again bowed worshipfully to God the Father, Jesus the Son, and God's Holy Spirit. He went into the celestial city to live forever, bathed in the light of God's love.

No sooner was the reception of the faithful soul over than again three figures appeared at the edge of the sea of glass. But these figures were different from the faithful soul and his two angelic escorts. The two figures on the outside of the formation were dark and loathsome, acting as if the light that shone in all of Heaven was burning them and searing their scaly flesh. They threw the middle figure forward onto the sea of glass, and high-tailed it out of there as quickly as they could, trying not to look directly at God.

The figure stood up, and looked down the length of the sea of glass at God. Slowly, reluctantly, he began to walk forward. Passing the altar, he looked at the fire that burned on it, then turned away quickly. He didn't want to think about fire at a time like this.

This soul, unlike the one that came before him, had no clothes of glory. He was unclothed, ashamed, but had no choice but to stand before God and face whatever was coming to him. The soul looked up into the eyes of God... just as the faithful soul before him had. And just like the faithful soul, this soul began to see a replay of his whole life: the good and the bad. The soul had always hoped that at this moment there would be more good than bad. But something was wrong. He saw a good number of good things he had done, but they all seemed... what was the feeling... useless; empty; good, but not good enough.

But when the times of his sinning were played before him, a horror crept over him like he had never imagined possible. A fear, a reality-shaking trembling came, as his gaze became captivated on the eyes of the Lord Almighty... whom he knew was showing the soul everything He knew about his life. God had seen the good and the bad. But none of it mattered. The vision collapsed into the realization that only one thing really mattered here: and that was that he had never depended on Jesus to save him from it all.

It was like suddenly finding himself two feet in front of a speeding train that he had pretended so hard wasn't there.

"And where..." God spoke, "... is your clothing of glory? Where is your righteousness that must be worn to the marriage supper of the Lamb?"
The soul stood silent, grasping for words to speak in defense, but none came to him. Lies had always worked for him in tight situations before, but he knew somehow that that wasn't going to work here.

Once again, that old serpent appeared at the edge of the sea of glass. Satan emerged from his cloud of fire and smoke, this time hauling an enormous black book that was several orders of magnitude larger than the one he had futilely brought for the faithful soul.
"Aha! I got you now!" the Devil hissed, lurching forward at the best pace he could manage on his seared, infectious tatters of feet, pointing his hideous talons at the soul. "There is no escape! You belong to me now, just as you always have!"
Satan arrived at the vicinity of the soul, slamming his huge, dark book down at the feet of the Lord, in front of the Holy Spirit. "I have this one! He's not under the blood! Give him to me now!" His cancerous voice was painful just to listen to, scratching like his throat had been mostly ripped out or burned away.

The soul stared in stark dread at the Devil, the companion that he had called pleasure for all of his life... now not so pleasurable. Pleasure... quick gratification... what a noble pursuit it had been back on earth. He had tried the church thing for a long while, but the conflict between wanting to act like everyone else while not going to hell got to be too much. He had decided not to give into religious rules that must have been made up by people living under rocks who didn't want anyone else to be happy. He was always happiest when he could just do what he wanted.

He remembered hanging out with all his buddies when he was young to whoop it up over action flicks and a few brewskies. They didn't even drink that much, just enough to get buzzed; some of the other guys gave them guff about being "pretentious". Ah, good times those were. Until a friend of his had one beer too many and wiped out a car with five teenagers on their senior trip in it when he tried to drive home. The friend survived but the group lost track of him as he drifted from bar to bar after that. The soul was just glad it hadn't happened to him.

He remembered the string of cute girls he dated into young adulthood, and the night he proposed to his wife. He almost lost the love of his life when he tried the church scene and told her they couldn't sleep together any more until they were married... but her disapproval and his own desires put a stop to that real quick. The soul had never been happier than during those first few years of marriage. Until the ravages of time and the harem of young, attractive girls in his memories drove him and his wife further and further apart until it was little more than the kids and the paycheck that kept them under the same roof.

Of course he had done plenty of good things. He gave to charity now and then, didn't cheat on his taxes, even bought a low-emission car that was good for the environment. Every now and then he even still dropped in on a church service. He just knew that "God", whoever He or She really was, wouldn't throw a good person into hell. Hell was for people like murderers and thieves, people who actually deserved it.
Now, standing before God, that philosophy didn't seem to hold any water. And his pleasure, which he had let get a solid and all-controlling grasp on his life, now was something he wished so desperately he could rid himself of. If only he could loose its claim to his soul... if only he had just a little more time, perhaps even just a few minutes!

The soul thought again of his friends back on Earth. Once or twice, when they had been confronted by an especially zealous Christian, they joked that they would enjoy being in hell together with all the fun people.
The soul caught himself starting at the Devil as he thought about all of this.
"Oh, I bet I know what you're thinking about!" the Devil rasped as a grimace spread across his disgusting face. "Did you think hell would be one big party, where you could finally be free of the moral scruples that religion imposed on you?"
"No... no! I only said that because..."
"Well, just wait 'till you see what it's really like!"
With that, a swirl of flame appeared behind the devil. It grew larger and darker until, it seemed, a hole opened up in space.

As the Devil hobbled away from the the abyss that had opened up, inside of it could be seen the most mortifyingly horrible nightmare there could possibly be. It was a deep pit... just how deep, the soul couldn't tell... but it was filled with caverns and pits, cliffs and jagged edges, walls of stone as sharp as a razor and as piercing as a sword. Everything was covered in fire: a hot, blazing inferno the likes of which he'd never imagined. But it was completely dark. Just as much as earthly fire gave off light and brilliance, the fires of hell seemed to absorb light and emanate darkness. Soul shattering darkness.
The most unutterably tortuous screams were coming from the abyss... of millions... no, billions of lost human souls, and what appeared to be fallen angels chained to the jagged walls. These occupants of hell could not be seen themselves, save for the flames of darkness licking and bellowing off of their writhing forms.

The soul spun around to try to escape the dreadful sight. He would have wretched in horror and disgust if he still had a stomach. For just a moment, he caught a glimpse of the Devil looking just as mortified as he felt... perhaps even cowering a bit. Was the Devil... trying to hide from the abyss too? The old serpent, seeing the human looking at him, quickly snapped back into his arrogant, loathsome persona. "You know," he said to the soul, "not even God can hear you once you're in there!"
"Hold it!" Jesus commanded. His voice reverberated across the throne room and caused all activity to cease. For the soul, His voice even drowned out the chilling sounds of hell.
"I have not given a ruling yet, you high-minded snake!" Jesus spat at the Devil.
"Take a look at this book!" the Devil screamed out like a rebellious toddler, looking up at the Lord, pointing at the big black book which was lying on the crystal sea. "I have the proof of all the sin this soul has committed. What could you possibly have on this guy?" he asked Jesus.
"You may have a book of charges, but I will give the final ruling. There is only one thing that counts here." From out of the throne of God appeared the Lamb's Book of Life again, and it was again taken up by Jesus.
Jesus opened the blood soaked cover with its large gold lettering, and flipped through the pages.

Although searching, for the sake of trying, He did not find the name of this soul written in His blood.

Jesus closed the book.

The slam from its massive bulk sealing shut resounded around the throne room, as Satan went into riotous, convulsing, infernal laughter.
"Your name was not found in My Book of Life" Jesus said to the soul.
The soul had to think of something quick.
"Jesus..." said the soul. It was the first time he had said the name and actually, really thought about the One who bore it. It was strange and alien to him. "...Jesus, isn't there anything I can do?"
"No! He's mine!" the Devil barked.
"You never accepted My sacrifice" Jesus said. "The blood that I shed on the cross, I shed for all mankind. All anybody has to do is accept my sacrifice. But not all mankind has accepted it."
Jesus stood up from His throne.
"Behold!" He said, pointing to the altar that burned before God Almighty.
There, on the altar, sprinkled on its glowing surfaces, was the blood of the Lamb. The horns on the four corners of the altar were touched by the blood. It was sprinkled on the altar's sides. Drops of the blood were burning in the eternal fire of the altar, sending up the sweetest aroma for the God of all creation; it was the scent of the love and sacrifice of His only Holy Son.
"There is the blood which would have saved you" Jesus continued. "It has been there all along. It was there for you. But you never took it."

Supreme dread filled the soul. The Devil began to inch closer to him again. He looked longingly at the blood. It was right there! It had been there all along! How could he possibly ever have missed it? How could he have thought his own goodness would substitute for the blood of the perfect Lamb of God? How he wanted that blood now!
"It's too late now!" the Devil screeched. "You decided to follow me! So follow me you will!"

The soul turned desperately to God and cried out "God! Help me! Save me!"
"Why did you not say that same prayer while you were alive on Earth?" God asked him, His mighty voice filled with pity. "You could have been saved then. But you followed Satan instead of Me. I would have led you to the ways of life, had you believed in the blood of the Lamb. Now your chance has been lost. The evidence against you still stands."
"No! No! It can't be!" the soul cried frantically, his eyes wide in horror as his fate closed in on him. He threw himself down on the glassy sea before the Lord. He let his tears flow..

"Depart from me," Jesus said slowly, "you who never knew me."

"NOOOOOOOOOO!" the soul screamed, as the talons of the Devil sank into him.
"Badly done, you worthless and stupid peon!" the Devil screeched at the soul who was now at his mercy, if such a thing had existed for the Devil. "Now see what you get for being my punching bag for so long! An all expense paid trip to the burning pits of hell!"
Again the Devil broke out in riotous laughter. The soul was paralyzed by the talons of Satan gripping his spirit. He felt the searing, blistering, dark-blaze of fire that enveloped him as the Devil hurled him in to the place where the fire is never quenched, and the worm that eats flesh never dies.
The abyss closed. The Devil and his book disappeared in a fountain of fire, not lingering even a second to gloat in front of God, despite of how much he wanted to. He couldn't bear to stay in the same place where the abyss opened... knowing that many of the angels who had followed him in the great rebellion were held there in chains of darkness, awaiting final judgment. Knowing that's where he himself would be had mankind not fallen and given him reign on the earth. Knowing that not even he and what fallen angelic spirits who were free to roam the earth with him could escape that terrible final judgment.

The throne room again was silent. Jesus would see the soul and the book again, at the End of the Age, at the great white throne judgment. The book would be opened then, as a list of charges, to determine the sentence for the unfaithful soul. At that time, it will be the final sentencing for all the unfaithful souls, and all the unclean spirits. To finally be locked away alive in the lake of fire forever, never to be heard from again and ever to bear the punishment for their iniquity. For all eternity.

Jesus' tears fell to the crystal floor as he thought about the lost soul, and how many had preceded him, and how many would follow. Two thousand years ago... on the cross... He had been on Earth in human form. He had been nailed to the beams of wood. He had felt the splinterous cross against the all but destroyed flesh of his back. He had endured that pain... and risen back to life again... for all souls. Even for the soul which had been lost. He saw the lives of all the souls that ever would live. He saw the righteous ones who would accept His sacrifice; he saw the unrighteous ones who would deny His existence. He died for them all so they might live. But some still resisted Him, and decided to follow the worldly pleasure of the Devil instead. To follow Satan straight into hell.

Now Jesus' sorrow for losing the soul turned to anger, burning wrath, against the Devil. The source of all sin. That serpent would be punished well for the soul he tricked into following him into hell.
Jesus had the lake of fire heated even hotter than before... the Devil's eternal anguish and suffering would be that much worse now...
And the revenge of the all the righteous ones would be that much more complete now. Jesus looked out on Heaven, the celestial city of God the Father. He looked lovingly at all His faithful souls who inhabited the city.
"To Him who sits on the throne..." came the voices from the city. "...And unto the Lamb..." It was the voices of angels and human souls singing praise to their Maker and Lord. "...Be blessing, and glory, and honor, and power! Forever!"
The song was sweet to the ears of God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit. This is the eternity of the righteous.

As the song continued, once again a trio of figures appeared at the edge of the sea of glass. Who is it this time? Is it a faithful soul? An unfaithful soul?

Six billion souls on the Earth, and growing. Some faithful. Some unfaithful. Some never hearing of the faith at all. Who will be next? All will stand before God one day. What happens then will be determined by what those souls did during their life. The purpose of life is this: God created us. He allowed us to exist. He gave us the life of His holy Son. Our purpose is to have a relationship with Him, to live devoted to His Life and His Light, and to bring others to that Light. An honest prayer of belief in Jesus and His death and resurrection is all it takes. Honest repentance for sins and a sincere effort to live without sin is all it takes.

Which soul are you going to be? Which soul are your friends going to be?

Deep in your heart, you know. Technical stuff:
I based the descriptions of the Throne Room, Jesus the Son of God, and the Holy Spirit on the descriptions given the book of Revelation. The events that occurred to each soul, i.e. getting crowns, living forever, the Lamb's Book of Life, accusation by Satan, the Great White Throne Judgment, the Lake of Fire, are also all based on what the Bible says. The only parts that I added for the sake of the story were the fact that the Devil had a book, and some of the descriptions of the Celestial City and Hell. I tried to the best of my ability to accurately represent what really happens after we die and stand before God, based on the knowledge of the Bible that I have and that I have heard from others who have studied the Bible.