Chapter 3

The darkness faded into light. Quaking ceased, and the court was still.

Nait stopped clenching onto his surroundings and sat up. He was the only one in the jury section.

Another person was in the defendant seat. It was a young lady sitting in the chair. She beamed her head in every direction. She gasped with fright. Her eyes were wide with terror.

“What happened?!” the young lady shouted.

There was silence.

The young lady looked toward the judgement seat.

“Velia,” The Light called. “You were given the gift of life. All the days of your life were spent the way you wanted. Your conscience was similar to a companion that witnessed all the things you did in public and in secret. You violated your conscience and did what you knew to be wrong. You rejected Me and My message of salvation from sin. You did not live a good life.”

Velia sat back in her seat and moved her brown hair from in front of her green eyes. She crossed her arms and legs. On her face, appeared a strong, confident smirk.

“So, it happened,” Velia said. “I died. And here the big oaf himself, right before my eyes.”

Nait’s eyes grew wide. His fear for Velia skyrocketed. He wanted to get over to her and take her as far away from that place as possible. He wanted to rescue her. His reverence for God was briefly forgotten. No longer could he keep from talking.

“Stop it!” Nait warned. “You don’t know what you are doing! You wouldn’t be disrespectful like that to your boss. You wouldn’t dare catch such an attitude with an officer or human judge. Here, you stand before someone infinitely greater than all of them. He is infinitely greater than all authority that has ever been on earth combined! Please, lady!”

Velia didn’t respond.

“You don’t understand who He is,” Nait continued.

Velia wasn’t fazed.

“She can’t hear me?” Nait said to himself as he sat back in his seat.

The screen began to show Velia’s daily life. She had her own art business and wrote for a popular blog. She could play the flute, guitar, and gave piano lessons during some of her spare time.

“God Almighty, right before me,” Velia said. “All knowing. All powerful. And for some reason, claims to love mankind in the midst of destruction.”

“Velia,” The Light said, “you are being judged for the crimes of sin you committed in life.”

“Who is God to judge me?” Velia scoffed. “I lived my life the best I could. It was my life. Nobody can tell me how to live my life.”

“There are many who think like you, Velia,” The Light said. “You did live your life the way you wanted. No one forced you to live any specific way. You lived and thought as you pleased. In the public, you sold many artworks.”

“I did,” Velia agreed. “And I didn’t need any higher being. I was good without one.”

“Who gave you that job?” The Light asked.

“Certainly not a god,” Velia replied.

“Who caused your business to flourish?” The Light asked. “Why did the people have a taste and interest for your work?”

“Because I put in the time and effort required for achieving the skills needed to make desired things,” Velia said.

“Who put the interest of art within you?” The Light asked. “Some people gravitate to art and some don’t. Who governs that?”

“That’s just how life is,” Velia said. “Look, you have a lot to answer for. What does how I lived have to do with anything?”

“Should the Creator and Giver of all good be concerned about evil and immoral actions?” The Light said.

“Sure, such a being should care,” Velia said. “Sure, sure.”

“You said it right,” The Light replied. “I am more concerned than you ever could be. I am concerned that you are a liar.”

The number 10,321 appeared on the screen.

“What’s that supposed to be?” Velia questioned.

“That is the number of times you lied during your days on earth,” The Light said.

“And?” Velia shrugged.

The screen began to display Velia talking with a young gentleman with a horizontal three-inch scar on his cheek. They were on a college campus, sitting in a café. Velia was smiling at him.

“What brought that to your mind?” Velia asked the gentleman.

“We all have an appointment with death,” the gentleman said. “And we all sin.”

“Sin?” Velia scoffed.

“Yes, Velia,” the gentleman said. “Just like criminals are responsible for their crimes, we are responsible for our wrong doings in life. We will be held accountable to God for our immoral living. That is the bad news. But the Good News is that God provided a way to redeem us through Jesus.”

“You sound crazy,” Velia laughed. “Like, what? How can I take such nonsense seriously?”

“I know there are certain aspects of it that you have questions about,” the gentleman said. “I’m willing to show you all that I’ve learned and things to consider. I’m telling you, it all makes sense. I know people have a hard heart towards these things. But if they would be completely honest and sincerely seek the truth of these matters, they will find it.”

“You think the science community doesn’t know what they’re talking about?” Velia asked. “You think you are more brilliant than people who have studied science for years?”

“I just want to be open with you,” the gentleman said. “You’re my friend. I care about you. Our conscience can be a powerful thing. And through all the evidence there is, it leads a person to Jesus and who He is.”

“I don’t need your Jesus,” Velia responded.

The screen began to show another time in Velia’s life. She was arguing. Every so often, the volume was muted. “You are a complete idiot!” she said to someone. “There is no god,” she scoffed another time. “You can’t go around telling—people how to live. You’re such a—. Oh my—.”

The screen turned off, but many times of Velia’s blaspheme echoed in the room. “Oh my—. Oh my—.

Within seconds, silence returned to the court.

“You denied My presence and existence,” The Light said. “But surely you hated Me.”

“There was absolutely no evidence that you were even there,” Velia said.

“Was my perceived absence a license to willingly commit immoral actions?” The Light asked.

“My life was not some immoral mess like you are trying to make it look like,” Velia said. “Plenty of people are good without God. Plenty of atheists live good lives. Unlike some people, I did good things not because I was afraid of some god who was going to punish me. You can’t fault me for not believing. I simply went with where the evidence pointed.”

The screen began to show farm animals like pigs, chickens, cows, and sheep.

“You had creation,” The Light said.

“Evolution,” Velia responded. “I had every reason to believe it.”

“Did evolution have all the answers?” The Light said.

“I didn’t say it did,” Velia said. “But it made a lot more sense than some fantasy like story.”

“You believe what you were taught,” The Light said. “You were taught many things on earth. You were taught how to drive. You were taught how to spell. You were taught languages. You were taught how to execute a backflip. You learned how to speak. Everything you know was learned.”

Velia was smirking.

“But who taught the spider how to spin its web?” The Light asked. “Who taught the baby how to suckle? Who taught the caterpillar to make a cocoon? Who taught the newly risen butterfly how to fly? How could these creatures know how to do such things without learning to do them?”

“Instinct,” Velia scoffed.

“Who put instinct into living creatures?” The Light asked. “How did it get there?”

The screen began to show animals. It displayed many different horses and horse like animals, such as the zebra and donkey and mule. Then it slowly flipped to an image with many different types of frogs. Next, it showed all types of canine. The screen continued to present other kinds of animals.

“The images you see are of animals and the kind they belong to,” The Light said. “All canines come from canines. They never come from something that is not a canine. No change occurs that causes a canine to change into something other than a canine over time. Cats come from cats. Birds come from birds. Fish come from fish.”

Velia waited for The Light to continue.

“I will ask you four questions to consider,” The Light said.

“Okay,” Velia replied.

“Did scientists or evolution know how life originated?” The Light asked.

“No,” Velia answered. “They only made educated guesses, of course.”

“People of the earth have only observed information come from a source of intelligence,” The Light said. “DNA has information inside of it. DNA is within plants, animals, and mankind. When mankind discovered DNA, it was a blessing. Did scientists or evolution know how information got into DNA?”

“No,” Velia said. “But there was hypothesis.”

“Have you personally ever used accurate dating method?” The Light asked.

“No,” Velia said. “I shouldn’t have to. I’m not a scientist.”

“Did scientists of evolution know how the human conscience came to be?” The Light asked.

“No,” Velia said. “But there were educated guesses.”

“You didn’t seem to know much of anything,” The Light said. “You ate only the words of individuals you believed.”

“I trusted that science would have revealed the natural answers,” Velia said.

“Even so, were the answers known while you were on earth?” The Light asked.

“No,” Velia said.

“Why trust such a stance?” The Light said. “All your answers were no. What parts did you know without a doubt?”

“So, you’re saying all those questions and answers pointed to God?” Velia heckled.

“It was made simple and plain to mankind,” The Light said. “But you didn’t like the simple answer. You were able to observe order in life. You observed purpose. You observed purposeful design in the human body. You observed purpose and benefit from the sun and where it is in space. You observed order in the four seasons and consistency in the moon phases. Creatures have the ability to adapt. That is a trait of an intelligent design, not a misguided process. You did know information comes from an intelligence. You did know that life has only been observed to come from life.”

The screen went off.

“All good things come from Me,” The Light said. “Every good thing you had was from Me.”

“Oh, really,” Velia retorted. “It’s so like you to take credit for everything good and nothing bad. What about the bad stuff?”

"The earth is clearly and without a doubt cursed,” The Light said. “Sin is profoundly serious. Your arrogance blinded you to that seriousness. You didn’t realize that turmoil is the norm for earth. It should have been a wonder to you why good things managed to even occur. The joys I allowed you to experience on earth were not earned. Every breath you took was an undeserved blessing and gift. And you were thankless. But that was not held against you. No, I care for the God lovers and the God haters. Whether poor or rich, sick or healthy, I handle everyone on a case by case basis. I draw individuals to Myself. Some best find me through pain and suffering. Some best seek grace through disabilities. Success causes some individuals to not seek me when I draw them near. Life on earth is only a blink of the eye compared to eternity. No matter how death consumes you, whether young or old, painfully of peacefully, it holds little relevance to the blissful life eternal through Jesus Christ.”