At death, the human spirit goes either to Heaven or to Hell. Christ depicted Lazarus and the rich man as conscious in Heaven and in Hell immediately after they died. Jesus told the dying thief on the cross, “Today you will be with me in paradise.”

Randy Alcorn speaks on Philippians 1:21, 23 and how being with Christ is better by far. He also contrasts these verses with the theory of soul sleep. This video clip was excerpted from Randy's Eternity 101 DVD class.

In October of 2012 Randy Alcorn was interviewed by Dr. John Akers at The Cove in Asheville, NC. Instead of the intermediate state, some believe that when we die we go into a state of soul sleep. John asks Randy to address this belief. See Randy's book Heaven for more information. 

The Biblical doctrine of the afterlife develops through the entire Bible (As God revealed more of his Word to humanity, we learn more about what life is after we die).

. . .passages that speak about people sleeping when they die are likewise to be interpreted as simply a metaphorical expression to teach that death is temporary. . . In my mind this is not a central doctrinal issue.