Gabriel, a listener from the Philippines, asks a very common question and a much debated

question, Pastor John, when we die, does our consciousness continue somewhere, or do

we just sleep awaiting the second coming and the judgment?

And why sleep so often used to describe death even by Jesus?

And where in the Bible can I be more confident of what happens to me or to someone I love

when they die?

Should I imagine them sleeping, awaiting Christ's return?

Or are they already in heaven, or even in hell, Pastor John, what would you say to Gabriel?

So I hear two questions.

Why is sleep, the word sleep, or the images sleep used to describe death even by Jesus

and number two?

What is the experience of people between death and bodily resurrection?

So maybe we should start by not taking for granted the biblical teaching that God's purpose

is not just to have some day lots of spirits in heaven, but bodies on the new earth.

The resurrection of the body was a scandal to many Greeks who loved the idea of the immortality

of the soul, but disliked the idea of the resurrection of this body.

Christianity is not Greek in this regard.

The body will be raised from the dead and the bodily resurrection of Jesus in a form

that could be recognized and that could be touched and that could eat fish was the prototype

of our resurrection body.

So Paul says in 1 Corinthians 1520, Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits

of those who have fallen asleep.

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