Isn't it weird that we can't technically see God unless we are dead?

[ancientchurchapostle]

I find it strange that we can't face "God" "face to face" unless we are dead. It's like wishing something to happen when it's impossible to happen, we are dead. How can we stay alive after death?

Makes you wonder if it really even exists...

 

[Theofane]

You can see "God" by taking a trip to your nearest hindu temple.

Our physical eyes cannot see God, nor can our limited minds perceive Him directly. If you go to a Hindu temple and pay homage to images of gods, I'd say you are worshipping the created (the images of Ganesha, Shiva, etc.) and not the Creator.

 

[Theofane]

Makes you wonder if it really even exists...

Do you not believe in deity or life-after-death?

 

[GrowingSmaller]

Our physical eyes cannot see God, nor can our limited minds perceive Him directly. If you go to a Hindu temple and pay homage to images of gods, I'd say you are worshipping the created (the images of Ganesha, Shiva, etc.) and not the Creator.

That's why I put the term in "God" in inverted commas.

 

[Believe the Impossible]

I thought this explained it very well. (Sorry, I cannot link right now)

Given the overwhelming magnitude, unlimited power and inexpressible wonder of God, not only could no human being see Him face to face and live – no one could experience Him and fail to submit to Him. For this reason, although He has made the truth of His existence and His perfect character plain for all mankind to see, God has also integrated "deniability" into human history. That is to say, God has given us all the possibility, potential and ability to live our lives as if He did not exist, and has even given us the capability of hardening our hearts to point of denying that He exists at all. The heavens proclaim His glory (Ps.19:1), but we are free to "tune out" their message and are easily able to do so. It is only under such conditions that the true choice of every man and woman could be made in genuine freedom without undue coercion or duress. This world is God's smelter and it puts our authentic free will to the test, demonstrating what is silver and gold, and what is merely dross. The truth is veiled, but it is not inaccessible; it is possible to ignore, but it is available for all who truly want it.

Acts 17:26-27 (NIV)
26 From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. 27 God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us.​

For all who are even the least bit interested in making the smallest effort to know about Him, God provides the living water of life, the gospel of truth; and as the verse above indicates, God has designed every aspect of human life – in the case of every single human being who has ever lived – with the express purpose of offering salvation to any and all who are willing to accept it.

John 6:44-45 NASB
"No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day. It is written in the prophets, 'And they shall all be taught of God.' Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father, comes to Me."
​

God has designed the universe, the human spirit, and the process of history in such a way so that no one who stands before Him at the last judgment will be able to say "I never had any idea of You or my mortality or my need for salvation". However, it is pointless to "draw" to Jesus those who are unwilling to accept Him if so drawn (one of our Lord's main points here in John chapter six as He remonstrates with those who saw the miracle of the bread and fish but would not accept Him as the Bread of Life). Only those who are willing are benefitted by being "drawn", that is, by being led to a hearing of the truth, that is, the gospel. The individuals in question in these verses have "heard" but they have not "learned". The Greek verb here is cognate with the word "disciple" and means "learned" in the sense of accepting the truth so as to make it one's own in the manner of a disciple. That is to say, this phrase indicates more than mere intellectual understanding; it indicates an acceptance of the truth heard as true and a willingness to respond to it. Jesus is speaking here of the faith that follows perception of the gospel and leads to salvation (i.e., "coming to Me" = "[having] learned" = responding to the gospel in faith). Hearing the truth, knowing the truth is not enough; in order to be saved, a person has to submit, yield, believe, accept, trust . . . use his/her free will in response to the Lord and to the truth that Jesus is the One who died for our sins and that we are delivered from death through the work of the Son of God. The human condition as God has ordained it in His infinite wisdom guarantees us the knowledge of the truth, but also the ability to ignore and even deny the truth: only those who have both "heard" and "learned" (i.e., have actually accepted the need for salvation so as to respond to it) come to be saved.

Some have twisted the fact of the veiling of God's glory and the sometimes seemingly limited availability of the gospel into an excuse – as if anything less than complete and universal revelation relieves mankind of all accountability. In fact, of course, all of us are accountable to God, and would be even if He were not offering the truth of the gospel to all and even if He had not sacrificed His One and only beloved Son on our behalf so that we might be saved. The reality, however, is that God's truth is universally available for all who desire it and, indeed, is universally undeniable at a certain basic level to everyone (at least initially). Inherent in the nature of the universe, the nature of the human spirit, and the nature of human life are God's most basic truths, made undeniable through the process known in theology as "natural revelation".

 

[Steve Petersen]

How about this: God's existence can't be contingent on anything He created (or else He couldn't have existed before those thing existed.)

Since His existence must be non-contingent, why should we expect Him to be material? That is, how can we 'see' Him since that seeing can only perceive material things?

 

[GrowingSmaller]

That is, how can we 'see' Him since that seeing can only perceive material things?

Pentecost. Holy Ghost.

 

[Steve Petersen]

Pentecost. Holy Ghost.

Nonsense. Gibberish.

Manifestation, not totality.

 

[Drayzon]

One logical explanation as to why we can't see god is that he doesn't exist. Other explanations just come across as excuses.

Ahh.. logic. We can't see a lot of things my friend, but we agree and believe that they exist. It seems as though you are the one that is trying to find excuses.

 

[DisingenuousChristian]

I find it strange that we can't face "God" "face to face" unless we are dead. It's like wishing something to happen when it's impossible to happen, we are dead. How can we stay alive after death?

What if death is true freedom? What if death is real, full and unencumbered life? A life that here is just a paling image?

Well, anyway, I'm going to cut it short, since you sort of get the idea I'm sure. This is in no way an argument for suicide, by the way. Just giving you a feel for opposites, and how to reconcile them.

To the Undiscovered Country!

 

[Ken-1122]

I've thought about this very thing. What if every morning I get up and walk out the front door of my house, God was just sitting there on His throne and greated me everyday and followed me around all day, maybe He would sit at the foot of my bed and watched me sleep all night. What if I could see and touch and talk to Him every moment of my life would I take Him for granted? Just as I take for granted nearly everything else in this world. Would I be annoyed and try to lose Him? Would I even bother building a relationship with Him? Knowing He will always be here. Would there be any sense of freewill if His goodness and judgement was always right there beside me? I guess if He was visible and interacted naturally with us He wouldn't be transcendent and void of all godly attributes. So maybe that's why.

Do you take your mother for granted? Did you neglect to build a relationship with your mother because you knew she would always be there? Did you lack a sense of freewill knowing her goodness and judgment was always right there beside you? If so I would suggest there might be something very wrong with you. If you are like the rest of us I must ask, why would you do something like that with God?

K

 

[Living in the Light]

One must believe to see the Light.

 

[Steve Petersen]

In other words...'If I hadn't believed it, I wouldn't have seen it.'

 

[Living in the Light]

Perhaps I should modify my statement: when God chooses to use a person for His Divine Purposes, He will make that person privy to Him. Moses and the burning bush and Paul are good examples. These prophets didn't believe at first.

 

[Ken-1122]

Perhaps I should modify my statement: when God chooses to use a person for His Divine Purposes, He will make that person privy to Him. Moses and the burning bush and Paul are good examples. These prophets didn't believe at first.

So if God doesn't make himself privy to us and we don't believe as a result, we can't be blamed for being unbelievers?

Ken

 

[Living in the Light]

Ken, it's two-way street. We meet God mutually in most cases. By the way, it's no accident you are on CF.

 

[Ken-1122]

Ken, it's two-way street. We meet God mutually in most cases. By the way, it's no accident you are on CF.

Did Moses and Paul meet him half way before they were believers? BTW I've never claimed to have joined CF by accident.

Ken

 

[Rajni]

I find it strange that we can't face "God" "face to face" unless we are dead. It's like wishing something to happen when it's impossible to happen, we are dead. How can we stay alive after death?

I do find it frustrating, especially during times when I'm not feeling
particularly pantheistic (or is it panentheistic?) where everything I
see is God manifested. Sometimes I wish we didn't have to settle
for the theoretical, in a world where statues and/or paintings of the
Divine are the closest thing to a "direct" manifestation, and just see
Him full-on.

Maybe this phase of our existence is like the gestational phase for
unborn babies. They can't see Mom. She's all around them, and --
like we do in God -- in her they live, move and have their being.
But if one could hold a conversation with an unborn baby and tell
them there's a Mom, they'd likely be skeptical, because they can't
see her.

However, they'll be able to see Mom face-to-face once they exit
her body, just as we will see God face-to-face once we exit our
bodies.

A time and a place for everything, I suppose...



.

 

[bricklayer]

Jesus Christ is effectively God; He was seen by many.
If you are referring to God the Holy Spirit or God the Father, you are correct.

 

[UnamSanctam]

My God looks like Jesus Christ.

But we don't know how He looked like

One logical explanation as to why we can't see god is that he doesn't exist. Other explanations just come across as excuses.

Non sequitur