27. After Sin infected the planet, God imposed Sleep upon humanity. Sleep is not a natural consequence of sin.

Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the one who can destroy both soul and body in hell. {Matthew 10:28}

When God removed human beings from the Tree of Life, He was imposing what I call “Sleep” upon us. Although we commonly refer to this state of existence as "death," Jesus said it is actually not Death, but Sleep. A pause. An interval of unconscious rest which will eventually come to an end. Everyone, good or bad, will enter into this Sleep. Everyone, righteous or wicked, will be awakened from this Sleep.

This is what Jesus was talking about in Matthew 10 when He said to not be afraid of those who can kill the body but not the soul. In other words, He was saying that Sleep is not a dead end. We should not be afraid of the God who barred us from the tree of life and destined us to return to dust. What we should fear, Jesus said, was the one who has the power to destroy it all, the one who has the power to totally separate us from the Source of Life, thereby causing extinction.

And who is the one who has such power? If God is the one who has destined us to the dust, who is the one who destines us to Death?

If you want to dig deeper—
Genesis 3:19
Ecclesiastes 2:16
Ecclesiastes 3:19-21
John 17:3
Romans 6:23