2 Corinthians 4:6 English Standard Version (ESV) For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

Vine’s Expository Dictionary on glory Strong’s number 1391 “glory” (from dokeo, “to seem”), primarily signifies an opinion, estimate, and hence, the honor resulting from a good opinion. It is used (1) (a) of the nature and acts of God in self-manifestation, i.e., what He essentially is and does, as exhibited in whatever way he reveals Himself in these respects, and particularly in the person of Christ, in whom essentially His “glory” has ever shone forth and ever will do, John 17:5, 24.

It should be made clear that our glorification mentioned in Romans 8:30 is not our glory but rather that Christ can and will reveal Himself in us and through us. His glory shines, not ours. We were raised to take the credit for good and the blame for bad but in God’s Kingdom Jesus gets the credit because He took the blame. Our sins fell on Him.

Isaiah 43:4 English Standard Version (ESV) Because you are precious in my eyes, and honored, and I love you, I give men in return for you, peoples in exchange for your life.

He gave His life for us, now we are His and that is only the beginning. We must do as John the Baptist did, recede so that Christ may be seen. It is not natural after the ways of the world but this is Kingdom living now. Everything reflects on our Lord. Our natural instinct is to say, that is me, it is my fault. We may feel that way but our Lord says, “I paid the price and that is on me now.”

What we say and what we do reflects on our Lord unless He gets to be glorified in us.

Romans 5:1-5 English Standard Version (ESV)

¹ Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. ² Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. ³ Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, ⁴ and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, ⁵ and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

If our only objective in this life of faith is to be justified and find peace with God we will not experience a life with Christ. All relationships must experience life together to remain healthy and grow closer. Stepping out in faith with Christ means we will encounter the same oppositions that Christ endured. If we do not endure these sufferings then we will not develop the character within ourselves which marks our growth, and maturity in Christ.

This hope spoken of in verses 4 and 5 is directly related to the promises of God to each of us that have placed our faith in Christ and made Him the Lord of our lives. One of those promises is conformance into the image of Jesus Christ. Images are meant to be seen, not worshipped.

Romans 8:29-30 English Standard Version (ESV)

²⁹ For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. ³⁰ And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.

Being glorified means being seen in the image of Christ, to be Christ like in the truest sense.