Has anyone ever seen God?

The apostle Paul tells us that God dwells in light — unapproachable light (1 Tim. 6:16). He is the invisible God (Col. 1:15; 1 Tim. 1:17; Heb. 11:27). No man has ever seen Him. It is not possible for man to see God in His essential Godhead. Man's constitution makes him able to see only what is within the range of his vision — not the invisible.

Moses was a man greatly favoured of God, and he had the light of God in his heart in a greater measure than any other in his day, and consequently the treasures of Egypt were of very small value in his sight; but his soul craved greater nearness to God, and closer acquaintance with Him in whose sight he had found grace; and he says, “I beseech Thee, show me Thy glory.” He is told this is impossible, but he will be permitted to see His back parts. Moses was asking to see His face, which meant the complete revelation of God. If I were anxious to see some great personage who had been very gracious to me, I would not be satisfied to see him with his back to me, I would be longing for him to turn to me that I might behold his face, and in seeing his face my heart is satisfied. But God tells Moses that no man can see His face and live. How could God have fully declared Himself to Moses? Moses, like every other man, was under judgment on account of sin, and if God declare Himself, He must execute that judgment, and what is to become of Moses? He must perish. Therefore God tells him it was impossible to accede to his request, but hides him in the cleft of a rock, and makes His goodness pass before Him, and with this he has to be content. So until the Son of God came into the world it remained a fact that no man had seen God at any time.

Verses 9-11, record what was seen by Moses and the privileged company that began the ascent of Sinai. They "saw the God of Israel" and this is not contradicted by 1 Timothy 6:16, which refers to God in His essential being and glory. As Ezekiel saw, "the likeness of the glory of the Lord" (Ezek. 1:28), and as John in Patmos saw One who sat on the throne, who was "like a jasper and a sardine stone" (Rev. 4:3) so these saw a manifestation of God. We note that no attempt to describe Him is made. We are only told that what was beneath His feet had the appearance of "paved," or "transparent" sapphire and the "clearness" of heaven. To this extent they "saw God," and were sufficiently sustained in their spirits to eat and drink before Him.

One of the essential attributes of God is His Invisibility; He is aoratos: Col. 1:15; 1 Tim. 1:17, etc. This, when applied to Him in His Essence must mean, not only that He cannot, but may not be seen; "Whom no man has seen, nor can see" (1 Tim. 6:16). Not even Moses could have looked on the face of God and lived. If God is to reveal Himself to the creature, it must be by an interpreting medium.

Now we come to another thing. It is God Himself present. Not merely have I got the divine nature, but God is present in a very remarkable way. "No man hath seen God at any time." How can I know and love a being that I have never seen? "If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us." The Apostle Paul expresses it in a different way. "The love of God," he says, "is shed abroad in our hearts." Now, what makes it so remarkable here? If we look at John 1:18, it is said there, "No man hath seen God at any time." How can I know and love a person I have never seen? "The only-begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him." That is, in the Gospel, which is to bring Christ before us, I find the sense to be this: Well, you have not seen God, and yet you have; because He who was the very delight of the Father - who is in the bosom of the Father - the immediate and closest object of the Father's delight - He has declared Him. Therefore I do know Him. It is the answer to the difficulty, that no man ever saw God. Christ has made Him known to me. Here, in the Epistle, it is, "no man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us." That which is revealed in Christ is brought directly into our own hearts, because the Holy Ghost is in us When Christ was in the world, it was the Son casting out devils and doing mighty works. And yet He said, "The Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works." Now, by the Spirit, He says, "We will come unto him, and make our abode with him." He makes God dwelling in us the answer here to not seeing God; as Christ being in the world was then the answer to not seeing God. Having washed us in the blood of the Lamb, He comes and dwells in us. We have a knowledge of God in that way. "If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us." It is not merely that the nature is there, but God is there. "Hereby know we that we dwell in him and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit." This is the way we have the consciousness that we dwell in God, because, as God dwells in us, and He is infinite, we have the consciousness of dwelling in God. He is our home: we dwell in Him. He is our abode. It is the presence of the Holy Ghost that gives the consciousness of God's being there.

In earlier days there were manifestations of Him, the Son of God, sometimes in veiled, sometimes in unveiled glory. To Abraham at the tent door, to Jacob at Peniel, to Joshua under the walls of Jericho, to Gideon, and to Manoah, the manifestations were veiled, and faith, in more or less vigour, through the Spirit, removed the covering, and reached the glory that was underneath. To Isaiah, to Ezekiel, and to Daniel, the Son of God appeared in unveiled glory; and He had, by a certain gracious process, to make the brightness of the glory tolerable to them (Isa. 6; Ezek. 1; Dan. 10).

The meaning of this must be considered in the light of John 1:18: “No one has seen God at any time,” and 1 Timothy 6:16; “whom no man has seen or can see.” Therefore it was not God personally whom they saw, but evidently some partial manifestation of His nature or character, for the language is symbolical that tells us, “there was under His feet as it were a paved work of sapphire stone, and it was like the very heavens in its clarity” (v. 10). This appears to be a vision that would inspire awe in all who were observers, realizing that it was indeed the great God of creation who was dealing with them. Compare the vision of Ezekiel 1, which ends with the words, “This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord” (v. 28).

This is but a feeble illustration of a stupendous truth. We are told in Scripture of God “dwelling in the light which no man can approach to; whom no man has seen, nor can see: to whom be honour and power everlasting. Amen” (1 Tim. 6:16).

Just as I could never seen my neighbour, so in a far higher sense we can never see God absolute. This was the case when the Scripture was written. It is equally true today and for all eternity. This must be so in the very nature of the Supreme Being.

"No man hath seen God at any time"; and, in the fullest sense, even angels cannot look upon His face who dwelleth "in the light which no man can approach unto, whom no man hath seen, nor can see" (1 Tim. 6:16). The seraphim veil their faces as they proclaim His thrice holy Name (Isa. 6.).

I don't think the invisible God could really be seen in the way that He is presented here until the Lord came into manhood.