2 Cor. 5:6, R. V.--"Being therefore always of good courage, and
knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent
from the Lord." Phil. 1:23, R. V.--"But I am in a strait betwixt
the two, having the desire to depart and be with Christ; for it is
very far better."
The experience (death-sleep) through which the believer passes ushers
him at once into the presence of Christ. It takes him instantly
to be "at home" with the Lord. Surely there can be no hint of
unconsciousness or the sleeping of the soul in these words. It
would seem from Paul's words in 2 Corinthians 5:1-5 that some kind
of spiritual body is given to the believer during the period of
his waiting for the resurrection body. What Paul longs for is not
to be in a bodiless state, but to put on another body which shall
not be subject to death. "At home with the Lord"--that is what
"death" (?) means to the believer.