This text expresses the present glorification of the people of God.

There is a future glorification—when we go to heaven in the soul, and in the resurrection of our bodies at the end of time.

That will be when we are taken to heaven to be with the Lord and to dwell in sinless perfection. That is when our frail, sin-pocked, mortal and corruptible carcasses will be changed (I Corinthians 15: 42ff), when our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body (Philippians 3:21).

Of this future glory we partake now. This is the because of the glory of Christ Himself—His Person, and His work of salvation. Christ’s glory is His greatness, the greatness of this God our Savior, revealed. It is the shining forth of this Sun of righteousness. It is this shining of this Sun upon the Church, His bride, bedecking her with His own life and virtue and indwelling her with His Spirit to be this beautiful, honored one in all the earth. This all, glory of the Sun Son, glory of the Church and many graced sons, is to the glory of God the Father.

Nothing less, this glory for the Church and for individual believers, now.

Our Lord lavishes us…with glory. Our Lord loves us…to take us to the glory of His own home.

The work of governments and of ourselves in this pandemic is to impose and to practice social distancing—staying six feet apart to stop the spread of a disease.

The work of God in a sinful world is to grace a people by a wonderful spiritual distancing of them—taking them from earth to heaven, having cross-cancelled the debt of sin, and given us to partake, by faith, of the benefits of His death to sin, and His resurrection and ascension to the right hand of God.

We have this glory as kings, now, exalted to sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.

Kings by grace we are, over fear, and over all the unruly passions of our own sinful nature.

Kings, we are, who patiently wait, with our fellow earthly humans, to be able to return to work, who long for a return to a normal life in our homes, church, and society, who hope for a vaccine.

Kings, we are, with our fellow heavenly brethren, who eagerly wait for the coming again of the King of kings, the blessed hope of His glorious Parousia.

Kings now live gloriously.

For such a time as this.

With you in Him, confiding in the Savior and His truth and love,