In America we use euphemisms to express death such as "she passed away", he left us, "may she rest in peace," "he passed over", "that good night", and many others. In the first century they used the term "he fell asleep."
Euphemisms often describe the appearance of the body, not the reality of the spirit. Paul gives us an important detail about death in chapter four verse fourteen. "...through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep." This is one of the verses that show us those who died are with God now.
American Christians use a phrase to express what happens to believers after death, "to be absent from the body is to be present with The Lord. That is not a direct quote from scripture but a simply way to remember a truth. It is based on Paul's writing to the churches that our spirits do not sleep at death but are existing in the presence of The Lord (Philippians 1:21-26; 1 Corinthians 15:24b, 49; 2 Corinthians 5:6).
When God returns to get his children from the earth, he will bring those who have died with him (1 Thessalonians 4:14).
