Invisible or not allow to see?

Foreshadow · May 2, 2009

I was always confused about this. So is God invisible or is it forbidden to see him?

shinbits · May 2, 2009

Defender Of Reason said:
I was always confused about this. So is God invisible or is it forbidden to see him?

some have seen God, like Moses. in the Bible, very few people have been worthy enough to see God. most of us just aren't worthy enough.

Foreshadow · May 2, 2009

I see.

ebia · May 2, 2009

Defender Of Reason said:
I was always confused about this. So is God invisible or is it forbidden to see him?

What would you see?

The prophet Ezekiel, describing a vision of God, says "this is the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord" - ie I can't really describe what God looks like, only give an impression of an impression of an impression.

In so far as we are capable of seeing God we see him in Jesus of Nazareth.

Radagast · May 3, 2009

shinbits said:
some have seen God, like Moses. in the Bible, very few people have been worthy enough to see God. most of us just aren't worthy enough.

Well, in simple language, God is much too big to see. Even Moses only saw a tiny aspect of God:

Then the LORD said, "There is a place near me where you may stand on a rock. When my glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft in the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by. Then I will remove my hand and you will see my back; but my face must not be seen." (Exodus 33:21-23)

Foreshadow · May 3, 2009

Why cant his face be seen?

Radagast · May 3, 2009

Defender Of Reason said:
Why cant his face be seen?

I think that means His full reality can't be seen (because He is too big). God doesn't have a literal face.

Foreshadow · May 3, 2009

But how do you knew he is even in a solid form?

DrBubbaLove · May 3, 2009

God is a pure Spirit. Pure spirits do not have material/physical form. Jesus is God, became Man. So we can see Jesus face to face because He is both Man and God. In the OT the sense of "seeing" God is usually more one of "knowing" Him. One who sees God in that sense knows Him very well.
Because of our sinful nature we are also told we could not be in God's presence in that state, we would be annihilated. And "presence" in that sense I think is more of an extent to which God reveals Himself to us, not in the sense of our being somewhere and He being with us. Seeing Him face to face in that sense means knowing Him fully. And it would be in our knowing Him fully that would destroy us in the state we are now.

Foreshadow · May 3, 2009

But how can Jesus be God if he is the son of God?

Catherineanne · May 3, 2009

Defender Of Reason said:
I was always confused about this. So is God invisible or is it forbidden to see him?

Look up to the sky, and you will see something, but you will not see everything there is to see in the universe. This is not because it is invisible, or because it is forbidden, but rather because our eyes are not capable of seeing everything.

Look towards God and you will see something, but you will not see everything there is to see of him.

The best place to start is by looking into the eyes of someone you love, but God can be found anywhere in creation. Each one of us is made in the image of God, so when you look into any person's eyes, there is something of God looking at you, but more so when it is someone you love, and who loves you.

DrBubbaLove · May 3, 2009

FedererFan said:
Why would God create humans in such a way that we are unable to see him? This makes absolutely no sense. What reason could there possibly be for that? Either he is powerful enough to make humans able to see him and he doesn't want us to be able to. Or, he is unable to make humans in a way that we are able to see him, in which case he is not omnipotent.

Apparently in the beginning we could know God completely, so we could "see" Him in the sense we could fully know and we fully aware of His presence. As things are now we can only do that in a very limited sense, light seeing a very powerful light dimly from a distance.

Adam and Eve (and others) are said to have "walked" with God. Again since God does not have a body, He cannot have legs, so "walk with" has to mean something else in that context. It is a further indication of how "close" they were to God, how well they knew Him and perhasp to what degree they could stand in His "presence". How well they could "see" the light or maybe how close to the light they could approach.

That all changed with The Fall of Man. We are not without sin, and being so we are unable to be that close with Him. So it is not a matter of not being able to "see" or not being made to see or God not having the ability to make us see. It is a matter of not being able to fully know Him because of sin. It is not a shortcoming of God, but our shortcoming and a measure of the corruption of what He made as a result of sin.

Foreshadow · May 3, 2009

In the beginning there was nothing.

Azureknight 773 · May 3, 2009

Defender Of Reason said:
I was always confused about this. So is God invisible or is it forbidden to see him?

We are not forbidden to see Him. Why? Because of what the Lord Jesus Christ did while he was on Earth. Showing His love and care to others and not looking for selfishness, but of selflessness.

If we see the ACTUAL FORM of the Lord God Almighty, then we will never ever survive, even this Earth we are standing at right now will not withstand. Even that sun which gives us unlimited energy will not stand and minute or even seconds if he passes through.

Take this as a scientific approach with theistic views.

Our bodies here on earth are made up of billions of proteins, carbohydrates, lipids, electrolytes, NPNs and many more biomolecules.

There is this immense radiation known as Cosmic Radiation (stronger than the sun's).

This radiation is surrounding Him. Anything that touches this radiation will melt down into nothingness.

DrBubbaLove · May 3, 2009

Defender Of Reason said:
In the beginning there was nothing.

Correct, but I was speaking after that point. The Bible records that in the beginning of the history of man, we were orginannly able to "see" him in the sense I described.

ebia · May 3, 2009

Defender Of Reason said:
But how can Jesus be God if he is the son of God?

God is three persons - Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Although having said that "Son of God" is not, originally, a title that is anything to do with divinity but a title for Israel and for Israel's expected representative king - the son promised to David when David offered to build the first Temple.

shinbits · May 3, 2009

Radagast said:
Well, in simple language, God is much too big to see. Even Moses only saw a tiny aspect of God:

Then the LORD said, "There is a place near me where you may stand on a rock. When my glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft in the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by. Then I will remove my hand and you will see my back; but my face must not be seen." (Exodus 33:21-23)

this isn't necessarily true. remember when God apeared to Abraham in the form of three men. there was nothing about those men that seemed "giant", according to Scripture.

Invisible or not allow to see?

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