The answer to your good question can be found by reading 2 Corinthians 5:1-4 which says, “For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be CLOTHED upon with our house which is from heaven: If so be that being clothed we shall not be found NAKED. For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be UNCLOTHED, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life.” 

Notice in these verses we have the words CLOTHED, NAKED, and UNCLOTHED.  What do these words mean in relation to our existence after death and before the resurrection, which is the Rapture of the church? 

CLOTHED – Verse 2 says, “For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be CLOTHED upon with our house which is from heaven.”  This certainly refers to our eternal ‘house’, our spiritual body that we will inhabit for eternity.  We read of that in 1 Corinthians 15:51-53, “Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and THIS MORTAL MUST PUT ON IMMORTALITY.” At the Rapture, in the twinkling of an eye, our mortal bodies will be changed into immortal bodies that are equipped to dwell in the Glory with the Lord.  If we are alive when the Lord returns, we will be changed.  If we have already died, we will come back with the Lord Jesus to get our bodies and “the dead shall be raised incorruptible.” 

UNCLOTHED – Verse 4 says, “For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be UNCLOTHED, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life.”  This speaks of the present state of the believers in Christ who have passed away.  They are UNCLOTHED because they have not yet received their immortal bodies they will get at the Rapture.  As we read in 2 Corinthians 5:8, “We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.”  Those believers who are UNCLOTHED are “absent from the body.”  They are in a spiritual state without bodies, awaiting the day when they will be reunited with their bodies and be raised immortal.  This temporary state is still a wonderful thing to experience.  The Apostle Paul wrote, “For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better. (Philippians 1:23).  So, to be with Christ, even though UNCLOTHED is FAR BETTER.  Yet, there is something even better as is expressed in verse 2, “For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be CLOTHED upon with our house which is from heaven.”  Our proper desire is to long to be with the Lord in our CLOTHED state…in our immortal, incorruptible bodies. 

NAKED – Verse 3 says, “If so be that being clothed we shall not be found NAKED.”  I skipped the natural order here to speak of that sad state of being NAKED.  What does that mean?  While there are several thoughts concerning this, I believe that it speaks of one who had died but has no hope or promise of being clothed with robes of righteousness.  This, I believe, speaks of one who has died without Christ as his savior.  The harsh words of the Lord Jesus to the unsaved in John 8:24 are, “I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins.”  We also read in John 3:36, “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.”  What a sad, wretched eternity awaits those who refuse to bow their knee and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ as their savior.  My dear reader, I pray this is not you…naked throughout eternity with no hope.  If you are not saved, I urge you to trust Christ as your savior today so you be as the writer of Isaiah 61:10 wrote, “I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels.”  (CC)  (685.6)