Jn.1:4,5 In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.
Darkness, or sin, blinds our eyes so that we cannot see the glory of the Lord. The glory is present but we cannot see. In Christ we perceive the very glory of God, those that have been touched by Him are awakened to the glory that flows our from Him. He is the radiance of the Father’s glory, when He entered the world it was the beginning of the coming kingdom of God. Now don’t misunderstand me, the glory is here among us now as we follow the Lord but not all can perceive His glory. When He returns to the earth the whole earth will be filled with the glory of the Lord. Here is how Augustines describes this passage.
“But perhaps the foolish hearts cannot receive that light because they are so encumbered with sins that they cannot see it. Let them not on that account think that the light is in any way absent, because they are not able to see it. For they, because of their sins, are darkness.… For suppose, as in the case of a blind person placed in the sun, the sun is present to him, but he is absent from the sun. This is how every foolish person, every unjust person, every irreligious person is blind in heart. Wisdom is present, but it is present to a blind person and is absent from his eyes; not because it is absent from him but because he is absent from it. What then is he to do? Let him become pure, that he may be able to see God.”
The night that Jesus was born the angels famously sang in the meadow near Bethlehem, the scriptures say that the glory of the Lord lit up the area where angels sang and shepherds were sleeping. This glory was a prophetic look into the coming kingdom of God. Of course the kingdom is here for those who can see and hear, its just that the glory will be everywhere then, not just in a meadow, and it will not be for a night but will abide with us forever. This is what Jesus had in mind when He taught us to pray, “Let your kingdom come”. The outpouring of His glory will increase in the latter days, it will be overwhelming and everywhere present when He returns for His church.