Has anyone ever seen God?

Author: BibleAsk Team


No One Has Seen God

No man has ever seen the face of God as shown in the following references:

No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him” (John 1:18).

Not that anyone has seen the Father, except He who is from God; He has seen the Father” ( John 6:46).

Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, to a]God who alone is wise, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen” (1 Timothy 1:17).

 No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God abides in us, and His love has been perfected in us” (1 John 4:12).

The closest man to have ever done so on earth was Moses, but even then it was hidden. In Exodus 33:20, God told Moses: “You cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live.”

In our fallen human condition, if God were to fully reveal Himself to us, we would be consumed and destroyed. The sin in us would not be able to take in all His glory.

God Veils Himself

There is no lack of harmony between the texts which state that no man has seen God’s face and the many other texts in the Old Testament that states that God veils Himself and appears in human forms in which we can “see” Him.

In Genesis 32:30, Jacob saw God appearing as an angel; Samson’s parents were terrified when they realized they had seen God (Judges 13:22), but they had only seen Him appearing as an angel. And in the New Testament God walked among men in the person of Jesus Christ and was seen by multitudes (1 John 1:1–3; 1 Timothy 3:16; etc.).

In the first group of texts, the Bible writers are speaking of God in His undimmed Glory; in the second, the writers are speaking of God as “manifest in the flesh,” and thus with His glory hidden. Jesus was God in the flesh (John 1:1, 14). So, when people saw Him, they were seeing God incarnate. However, this is different than beholding God with all His glory and holiness.

In His service,
BibleAsk Team

Categories God

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