Has a person ever seen God?

from the old testament

• The Old Testament teaches that no one has ever seen God in His pure, unveiled essence. This is because, as the LORD warned, “man shall not see me and live” (Exodus 33:20). When Scripture speaks about seeing God, the idea is that God protected the viewer by manifesting Himself in a mediating form. These were true encounters but where His essence was masked through things like visions, angels, or even elements like fire.
• Moses is the clearest example of a mediated view of God. The Bible says the LORD spoke with him “face to face” (Numbers 12:8 NIV), when Moses specifically asked to see God’s glory, he was sheltered in the rock and allowed only a passing glimpse. God said, “you shall see my back, but my face shall not be seen” (Exodus 33:18-23). Thus, while Moses did truly see something of God, he was protected from seeing His essence.
• Jacob’s night at Peniel is another such example of a mediated face-to-face encounter. After wrestling all night with “a man,” he said, “I have seen God face to face, and yet my life has been delivered” (Genesis 32:30). By being delivered, Jacob meant that he had seen God and yet did not die because God revealed Himself in the form of a man. That way Jacob could interact with God without being struck dead by His essence.
• Several of the prophets’ visions also talk about seeing God in a mediated manner. For example, Isaiah saw “the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up,” and cried, “Woe is me! … for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts” (Isaiah 6:1, 5). Similarly, Ezekiel spoke about seeing “the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD,” piling up descriptive terms to show that what he saw was a real vision of God, but one that was accommodated so he could to see the heavenly throne room without dying (Ezekiel 1:26-28).
• Additionally, throughout Israel’s story God’s presence came in forms suited to be seen by humans. Some examples include the Angel of the LORD (Exodus 3:2-6) and the pillar of cloud and fire that led them day and night (Exodus 13:21-22). God truly interacted with men in these and other manifestations but in forms that veiled them from seeing His unveiled essence so they would not die.

from the new testament

• The New Testament reiterates what was taught in the Old Testament, namely that “no one has ever seen God” (John 1:18a) and that He “dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see” (1 Timothy 6:16). God hides Himself from men and women because His essence cannot be seen by sinful creatures. Left to ourselves, then, we cannot behold Him as He is.
• However, God made Himself known to mankind through His Son, Jesus. John, after teaching that Jesus (“the Word”) is fully God, said, “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14).
• Paul would later say that Jesus is “the image of the invisible God” (Colossians 1:15), echoing what Jesus told Philip: “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father” (John 14:9). Thus, when the disciples saw Jesus, they were seeing the Father. However, they were not seeing God in His bare essence but seeing His character and will. In short, God “has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (2 Corinthians 4:6).
• The New Testament also ties earlier, Old Testament manifestations of God to the Son. For example, John said that in Isaiah’s vision, he “saw [Jesus’] glory and spoke of him” (John 12:41; Isaiah 6:1-5). Thus, some Old Testament appearances, particularly the Angel of the LORD ones, were early face-to-face encounters of the Son of God that hinted at His incarnation in the New Testament.
• Though no one has ever seen God, there are indications that believers will one day see Him. For example, Jesus said, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God” (Matthew 5:8). Paul would say, “we see in a mirror dimly,” but then “face to face” (1 Corinthians 13:12). John concluded the book of Revelation by noting that God’s people “will see his face” in the New Jerusalem (Revelation 22:4). This will be possible because, at that point, believers will be fully purified with all sin removed (cf., 1 John 3:2).

implications for today

No one can see God directly because no one is perfect. This should cause you to think more highly about God and praise His majesty.

On the one hand, God’s holiness and transcendence mean you cannot approach Him on your terms. To see Him in His essence would destroy you, just as even the thought of encountering God in mediated form terrified Isaiah and Jacob. Be humbled by the thought of His unseeable greatness.

On the other hand, though God hides His essence, He has not left Himself hidden. He mercifully revealed Himself through His Word, through His mighty works, and above all through His Son. When you look at Jesus in the Gospels, you are seeing the character, compassion, and glory of God.

John said that as we think about and look forward to seeing Jesus in all His purity, we will also become purer (1 John 3:2-3). What a hope that gives us! God is making us more and more like His Son so that, one day, we will be able to look at Him. Until then, live by faith, knowing that the invisible God has drawn near to you in Christ.