We will always be somewhere. The hope of the living is that Christ will return and transform our bodies to be like his glorious body. The hope for those who have passed away is that Christ will return and resurrect and transform their dead bodies. But Scripture also speaks of the immediate hope of the living Christian. If we should pass away before Christ comes, we will have a dwelling in heaven prepared for us, an eternal one.
For we know that if the earthly tent which is our house is torn down, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For indeed in this house we groan, longing to be clothed with our dwelling from heaven, inasmuch as we, having put it on, will not be found naked. For indeed while we are in this tent, we groan, being burdened, because we do not want to be unclothed but to be clothed, so that what is mortal will be swallowed up by life. Now He who prepared us for this very purpose is God, who gave to us the Spirit as a pledge (2 Corinthians 5).
How do we know this is true? Verse five tells us that we have been spiritually prepared for such an experience and that the Holy Spirit was given to us as a pledge so that we might have confidence about our future. A pledge in the Greek language is a down payment that cannot be taken back. The Holy Spirit is God's pledge that we are safe living or dead.
