In 5:1 Paul speaks of our earthly tabernacle house being taken down. For our body as our earthly tabernacle house to be taken down is for our outward man to be consumed, wasted away. Toward the end of 2 Corinthians 4, Paul says that our outward man is decaying, that our inward man is being renewed, and that we are not considering the things which are seen, but the things which are not seen. This means that we live and walk by faith. Then in 5:1 he gives a word of explanation, saying that we know that if our outward man, our earthly tabernacle house, is taken away, we have a better one in the heavens. Therefore, in chapter five there is clearly a continuation of Paul’s word in chapter four.
This continuation indicates that at the end of chapter four Paul had become truly mature. He had been regenerated in his spirit and transformed in his soul. His entire being had been renewed. The only thing yet to be completed was the full redemption of his physical body. Paul’s body was still in the old creation; it had not yet been changed, transfigured. Hence, in 5:1-8 he expresses his longing, his aspiration, for the transfiguration of his body.
It was Paul’s desire that he not be unclothed, that is, that he not have his body taken away from him. His desire was to be clothed, that is, to put on a transfigured body. Death involves the separation of a person from his body. Sometimes during a funeral service a minister may say that the deceased has gone away, that he has departed and is no longer with us. Often Christians use the expression “going to the Lord.” It was not Paul’s longing to be without a body. He did not desire to be unclothed, to have his body taken away. His longing was to be clothed with a resurrected body. This means that his longing was to be redeemed in his body. He knew that his spirit had been regenerated and that his soul had been transformed, but he also realized that his body had not yet been transfigured. Therefore, he was longing and waiting for the redemption of his body. This longing is covered in the first eight verses of chapter five.
In verse 5 Paul says, “Now He Who has wrought us for this very thing is God, Who has given to us the pledge of the Spirit.” The Greek word translated wrought also means fashioned, shaped, prepared, made fit. God has wrought us, fashioned, shaped, prepared us, made us fit, for the purpose that our mortal body may be swallowed up by His resurrection life. Thus, our entire being will be saturated with Christ. God has given us the Spirit as the pledge, the earnest, the foretaste, the guarantee, of this wonderful and marvelous part of His complete salvation for us in Christ.
God intends to clothe us with a body of resurrection. But if we would be clothed with a transfigured body, we need certain qualifications. A sinner is not qualified to be clothed with a transfigured body. He is not fit for such a body. However, God has wrought, shaped, custom-made, us for this. Just as a tailor shapes a jacket to fit our body, so God is shaping us to put on a body of resurrection. God is not shaping a body—He is shaping us. When you buy a new pair of shoes, you select shoes to fit the shape of your foot. God’s way is the opposite: He shapes our feet to match the shoes. He shapes us, prepares us, to fit into a resurrected body.
How does God shape a sinner so that he can put on a resurrected body? He shapes him by forgiving his sins, putting the divine life into him to regenerate his spirit, and then transforming his soul. This is what it means for God to shape us.
Have you been shaped by God? The best answer is to say that we have been shaped to some degree. Although I have been somewhat shaped by God, I know that I have not been absolutely shaped by Him. Therefore, I need further shaping.
In relation to God’s shaping, Paul says that God has given to us the pledge of the Spirit. This indicates that the main factor of God’s shaping us is His putting Himself into us as the life-giving Spirit to be a pledge. This means that God has pledged Himself to us to accomplish this for us. He has placed Himself as the life-giving Spirit into our spirit to guarantee that one day He will clothe us with a body of resurrection. We have a pledge that we have been made and qualified for this purpose. This also is included in the ministry of the new covenant. Through the new covenant ministry we are shaped, qualified, and prepared to be clothed upon with a body of resurrection. We all are waiting for this to take place.