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“I don’t care what it costs,” Adam said. “Nothing compares to being here with you. In fact, I tore the—”
“I saw!” The Ruler pressed his love into Adam with an embrace that satisfied every craving for family Adam had ever had.
He let go and gripped Adam by both shoulders. With the smile of an excited child he said, “Now, come with me.”
They left the promise room through a back door, and the Ruler led him down a long, narrow hall. Adam jogged to keep up.
The corridor appeared to dead end, but the Ruler touched the wall and it opened into a room. Adam entered, and his blood ran cold. “No, not ...” He turned to the Ruler. “Please, I can’t. Not again.”
Mirrors surrounded him like ten angry executioners. Seeing the void of colors in his heart had been excruciating before. Now, after learning of the Father’s anger toward him ... He covered his eyes.
“The mirrors are not your enemy, Adam. You will learn to love this room. It won’t be easy, but this is necessary.” The Ruler gently pulled Adam’s hand from his face. “Look.”
Adam recoiled from the reflections and covered his face again, but the grotesque image remained burned into his memory. No. No—I can’t be that evil.
For a split-second, a different kind of terror interrupted the agony of his guilt—a dark presence, like when he found the bag of fruit at the downed tree. Hairs stood up on his neck.
Just as quickly, it was gone. Eyes still covered, a new image arose in his mind. He imagined Levi standing next to him by the mirror.
If I look this bad, how ugly must Levi’s heart be? I never did the kinds of things he did. I’ve never stolen anything, never hurt anyone. I was always the first to help when buildings fell. I saved Jacqueline Steadman. Memories of past good deeds played out in his mind with surprising clarity—as if he were viewing them live. His tense muscles relaxed. I am a good person. Sure, I’ve made mistakes, but I’ll make up for them.
Then he felt the Ruler’s penetrating gaze and realized all his thoughts were laid bare before him.
The Ruler raised an eyebrow. “Adam, he who justifies himself will have himself as a defense and no other. But he who comes defenseless—I will plead his case.”
Adam drew a deep breath and blew it out. He squared himself to a mirror and took in the full, sickening image.
All notions of his goodness, all excuses, all rationalizations rang hollow. He deserved condemnation, and he knew it.
He didn’t understand all the Ruler had said about the blood room or what he meant by “plead your case,” but he did know the Ruler was his only hope to escape the Father’s wrath.
He turned from the mirror and fell on his knees. “I’m not in a position to expect any favor from you or the Father. All I can say is please, please—whatever you did in that blood room, apply it to me. Have mercy on me. I have no other hope.”
The Ruler’s face lit up with a smile radiating happiness that warmed Adam to his core. He gathered Adam in his arms and embraced him with tears and laughter—like an elder brother welcoming home a long-lost sibling.
“You’ve done it! You have trusted me instead of yourself. Well done!” The Ruler took a carafe from the circular counter, poured a glass, and handed it to Adam.
Adam held the blue fluid to the light. “Is this the same fluid from the mist?”
“That’s right.”
Adam peered into the glass. “What is it?”
“It’s distilled from my colors. The Father uses it as a way of infusing his life into those he favors.”
“This fluid infuses life? What does that mean? I’m already alive.”
“No, you died on your first visit to this room. Drink this and you will live forever—even after your body dies.”
Adam downed the glass in one swig.
In a nearby room, a raucous noise erupted—joyful shouts, laughter, and loud music.
“What’s that all about?” Adam asked.
“You! The Father and many of his guardians are in that room, and they’ve waited a long time for this moment.”
“This moment?”
“The moment you would taste of the Father’s life. No one can drink of it unless he trusts me more than his own feelings and relies on me instead of his own efforts to make himself acceptable to the Father.
“But ... why? Why does one man trusting another matter so much to them?”
The Ruler positioned Adam in front of a mirror. “That’s why.”
Adam forced himself to face the image, bracing for yet another assault from the condemning glass. Instead, he beheld a rainbow of brilliant, gleaming light. The filth now gone, the image bore a striking resemblance to the Ruler himself.
He stared, captivated. “Is this real? It doesn’t even look like me.”
“It doesn’t look like the man you used to be,” said the Ruler, “because that man is dead. I assure you, the reflection is quite real. And every day you walk with the wind, you will grow deeper into that reality. You asked before how a person can have my sacrifice applied to his account. The answer is simple—faith. The moment a person trusts me, I paint that person’s soul with my colors.”
“But my whole life has been ... I’ve done things that—”
“All is forgiven! My blood has been applied to your account, so your debt is paid. You have now become my brother, with my colors. And the Father’s anger toward you is erased. His love for you is now just like his love for me, because when you trust me, you are connected to me in the Father’s eyes—grace by association.”
The wind swirled in the room, and a translucent gold chain with a small bar appeared in the Ruler’s hand. He placed it around Adam’s neck. “This is who you are now.”
Adam ran his finger across the inscription on the bar. My new name. But what does it mean?
“That name describes your station in the coming war. You must learn its meaning and master the weapon that comes with it.”
Ever since his conversation with Abigail about her weapon, Adam had daydreamed about when he would get his. What power was he about to receive? The words spilled from his mouth with the eagerness of a child. “What is it? Do I get it now?”
The Ruler’s solemn tone cooled Adam’s exuberance. “It is a weapon, not a toy. Yours will be one of the mightiest of all weapons. But you will face an adversary who has power to sift you as wheat. It will take your weapon and much more to save your friends.”
“Friends? Not just Abigail? Are the others in trouble now too?”
“The battle is the fiercest they have ever faced. And it is about to get worse. Much worse. Watson, Kailyn, and Layth are fighting for their lives at this moment. And the enemy holds Abigail in his clutches.”
A dark terror rose in Adam’s stomach. “Will they all ... make it?”
“No, they will not. Life will be lost in this war. But if you master your weapon, some may be saved.” The Ruler began toward the door. “Come.”
A year’s worth of hopes and fears packed themselves into the few minutes of their somber journey down the hall toward the assignment room. Terror at the thought of facing such a powerful enemy and the grief of knowing at least one of his friends would die nearly paralyzed him. And the eerie howl rising from the far end of the hall didn’t help.
But when Adam watched the Ruler, the great monarch’s countenance quelled his anxieties. The Ruler’s expression was serious, but not sad. It was the look of a man embarking on a plan that would be costly, but glorious. The Ruler’s straight back and confident stride infused hope into Adam. By the time they reached the assignment room, Adam was a different man.
The howl had become a roar as they approached, and it was coming from inside the room. The door and the wall surrounding it quaked, as if ready to give way under the strain.
“What’s going on in there?” Adam asked. “Sounds like a hurricane.”
“It is a hurricane,” said the Ruler as he took hold of the latch. “And it’s time for you to meet him.”
*** The End***
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Thanks for reading!
I pray you enjoyed it. And if you did, please take a moment to leave a review wherever you purchased the book.
If you’re eager to find out what happens when Adam meets the Mighty Wind and what becomes of Abigail and the others, feel free to join my Readers List so you’ll be the first to know when volume two of the series is released. You can sign up at DrichardFerguson.com.
I pray you were edified by the story. It is an extended parable depicting the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ—how a person comes to know God. My goal in writing was to dramatize the truths of the gospel in a way that lodges in the reader’s imagination, drawing both mind and heart to the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Book two of this series, the story of the attempt to rescue Abigail, is a parable of the Christian life showing how to fight the war against sin and how to escape enslaving sins through walking by the Spirit.
My prayer is that both volumes will not only edify you, dear reader, but also that they might be a tool you could use to disciple someone else or use in a discussion group or Bible study.
The layers of meaning in the allegory are designed to serve readers at every level, so those farther along in the journey of studying God’s Word might help younger believers along as they share their insights. Study guides for both volumes are due out soon.
Finally, I’d love to hear your impressions of Escape from Paradise. Please send me a text at (720) 593-9985 and let me know what you thought.
- D. Richard Ferguson