“God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus” (1 Thessalonians 4:14)  

Those who are asleep in Jesus are awake in Heaven. “Today you will be with Me in Paradise” is the whisper of Christ to every dying saint (Luke 23:43). Those who sleep in Jesus are before the throne of God, praising Him day and night in Heaven, singing hallelujahs to Him who washed their sins away in His blood. The physical remains are on Earth in some form, while the soul lives with Christ. So, why does Scripture call it “sleep”? The idea connected with sleep is “rest,” and that’s the thought which the Spirit of God wants us to understand. 

God has wisely ordained the life of man be broken into alternating segments of time called day and night. Man uses his body during the day, and sleeps at night, giving his body a chance to heal and rebuild. The toil-worn believer quietly sleeps, as does the weary child when it slumbers on its mother's breast. Oh! happy are they who die in the Lord. “‘Yes,’ says the Spirit, ‘that they may rest from their labors, and their works follow them’” (Revelation 14:11). “God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away” (Revelation 21:4). 

So what will happen to our physical bodies? “Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed - in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality” (1 Corinthians 15:50-53). Blessed is death, since it prepares us to be clothed in the garment of incorruption. Blessed are those who “sleep in Jesus.”