In Luke 16:19-31, Jesus tells the story of two men who died. One was a rich man, and the other was a beggar, named Lazarus, who laid at the rich man's gate.

The rich man was sent to hell. There is no mention of any temporary residence or of a period of waiting for the Lord's return before he was tormented in this place of separation and fire.

The beggar, Lazarus, on the other hand, was carried to Abraham's side, a place of blessedness where the righteous who have died wait for the Lord's return. Again, there is no mention of a period of sleep or of a temporary holding place.

This is further supported in Jesus' crucifixion. Two criminals hung next two Jesus. One hurled insults at him; the other defended Jesus and asked for his mercy. Jesus said to the criminal who believed in him, "I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise" (Luke 23:43 NIV, emphasis added).

From this, it appears that immediately after death, a person who believes in Jesus is immediately taken to be with Jesus. In the case of Lazarus, Jesus had not yet triumphed over death, so he is not mentioned there, but the thief very clearly joined Jesus.

But is this the final state of believers in Jesus? No. The next major event for the dead will be the resurrection, in which God will clothe believers with a new spiritual body. Paul describes it as follows:

In many of the places where the Bible mentions "sleep" or "rest" (Dan. 12:13; 1 Cor. 15:51-52; 1 Thes. 4:13), it is probably referring to death. These do not contradict the idea of an immediate departure to be with Jesus. Most of them, however, do look forward to the final, resurrected state of the believer.