“Falling asleep” is terminology used for those who die in the Lord. Let’s look at why Paul uses it. Here are some scriptures to get us started.
I Corinthians 15: 5 And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve: 6After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep.
Ezekiel 18: 4Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die.
Ezekiel 18: 9Hath walked in my statutes, and hath kept my judgments, to deal truly; he is just, he shall surely live, saith the Lord GOD.
I Thessalonians 4: 13But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. 14For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. 15For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. 16For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: 17Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. 18Wherefore comfort one another with these words.
To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. Close your eyes here and open them with the Lord. Lazarus’ soul was carried by the angels to the paradise of God. When the rich man died, he saw Lazarus. Abraham had his arms around him while he leaned upon his breast. Lazarus was conscious but resting. The rich man opened his eyes in hell. His soul was there. Like Lazarus, his body was left here and you couldn’t tell any difference in them, but those two men sure knew the difference. Both were equally dead as far as life is concerned. The rich man died in his sins not knowing the Lord and experienced the second death, that of separation from hope and God forever.
There’s a lot to be said for falling asleep and resting. That’s the way Paul wants us to approach death. When we sleep, we’re in a different dimension. We dream but wake up and come back to reality. When we die, the body gets to rest. Ecclesiastes says the body goes to the ground and the spirit goes to God who gave it. Sometimes there is a struggle when a person is dying, but when the time actually arrives it’s almost as if they fall asleep. The soul separates from the body at death. For the child of God, the Lord is there. The body remains, but in a moment’s time the soul is present with the Lord. The rich man’s sins landed him in hell. He was a child of Abraham, but that didn’t save him.
Falling asleep is the most natural thing a body can do. The body sleeps; the soul rests. The best way to end a day of hard work is to lie down in a comfortable bed in a comfortable position and go to sleep. When we come to the end of life, we’re plenty tired and weary, and the best way to end it is to go be with the Lord. The sting of death is sin. As a child of God, we won’t feel a sting to death.
The day we die won’t be at our choosing. We must live each day in faith until the day we fall asleep in the Lord. A poet said once something along the lines of “may the end of my life be like a tired man who lies on his couch and covers himself with the tapestry and goes to sleep.” We can face it as if we were getting in bed and pulling the cover around us. Right now heaven is a dream, but that day it will become a reality. We will rest.
Don’t fear your bed time. Be ready so you can just fall asleep in the bosom of your Savior.
Adwolfe Freewill Baptist Church 