Intermediate body - not the glorified body to be received at Christ's coming, but a state of bodily existence nevertheless: not corrupt and yet not glorified, not fleshly and yet not wholly spiritual; i.e., a bodily form of some sort suitable to the intermediate state but different from and only preparatory to the final, glorified, resurrected body (
Mt. 17:3;
Rev. 6:9-11).
Some say this refers to
the body of Christ, i.e., the church.
Resurrected/glorified body - this is the most feasible answer. (a) “house” in v. la refers to this earthly body we presently have; sound exegesis would lead us to take “house” in v. lb to refer to the heavenly future body; (b) note its description: “not made with hands” = spiritual (cf.
1 Cor. 15:44,
48,
49); it is “eternal” as opposed to the temporary and transient character of earthly body; it is “in the heavens” as opposed to “on the earth” (v. 1a).
The major objection to this view is Paul's use of the
present tense, "we have" (not "we
shall have"). This seems to imply that immediately upon death the believer receives his/her glorified body. But this would conflict with
1 Cor. 15:22ff.;
15:51-56; 1 Thess. 4-5, all of which indicate that glorification occurs at the second advent of Christ. Furthermore, frequently in Scripture a future reality or possession is so certain and assured in the perspective of the author that it is appropriately spoken of in the present tense, i.e., as if it were already ours in experience. Thus Paul's present tense "we have" points to the
fact of having as well as the
permanency of having, but
not the
immediacy of having. It is the language of hope.
It has been argued that perhaps Paul uses the present tense because the passing of time between physical death and the final resurrection is not sensed or consciously experienced by the saints in heaven; thus the reception of one's resurrection body
appears to follow immediately upon death. But against this is the clear teaching of Scripture that the intermediate state is consciously experienced by those who have died (
2 Cor. 5:6-8;
Phil. 1:21-24;
Rev. 6:9-11). It is clear both that the deceased believer is "with" Christ when he comes (
1 Thess. 4:17), and that at death he/she has "departed" to be "with Christ" (
Phil. 1:23). It would seem, then, that some kind of existence obtains between (hence, intermediate) a person's death and the general resurrection.
