Since God is everywhere, can I see him?
Q: Can you see God?
A: No. I cannot see God, but He always sees me.
(Exodus 33:20; John 1:18; 1 Timothy 6:16; Psalm 139, esp. vv. 1–5: Proverbs 5:21; Hebrews 4:12-13)
For sinful man, seeing the Living God is a dangerous proposition, just ask Moses. When Moses asked to see God in all his glory, he had just plead to God for the forgiveness of the people of Israel (Ex. 33:20). They had made a visible image and called it by God’s name as they worshiped it. Even as God promised forgiveness and his own continuing presence, he denied Moses’ request to see him. It would be impossible for Moses to see God and keep his life. If Moses could not see God and live, who communed so closely with God, how much less could any of us survive being exposed to the burning glory of the thrice holy God?
At the end of the prologue to John’s gospel, he affirms this truth (John 1:18). No one in history has ever seen God. There is a hiddenness to our Triune God. He is not and cannot be fully known apart from Jesus Christ. Only the Son, who veiled his divine glory when he took on human flesh, has given us access to fully know God. He has exposed Him who remains hidden from our eyes.
Paul affirms both the truth that no one has ever seen God, nor is anyone able to do so (1 Tim. 6:16). Man is not simply barred from looking at God. It isn’t that God is holding out on us. Rather, in our current state, we are not able.
That isn’t an idea that sinful man likes very much. We like to think we are able to do just about anything. In a day when personal autonomy is the central doctrine of the culture, being told flatly “You ARE NOT ABLE” is offensive. We think “That’s not fair!” There are two equally valid answers to such a response, and if you are a parent, you have likely said one if not both. First, “You don’t want fair.” This is certainly true. In fairness, rather than veiling his glory from us, God could simply have destroyed all sinful humanity beginning with our first parents. He could have left us exposed to his radiant, burning glory and so obliterated us. Second, “You may not think it’s fair, but that’s the way it is.” Stamping your foot because you are angry about gravity is foolish. What makes us think that being put out because we “ought” to be able to see God is any better? All it reveals is a denial in our hearts that he is God, and we are not.
We sometimes get the wrong idea because we misunderstand the invisibility of God. Like little children who look around to see if anyone is watching before they do something naughty, we want to assure ourselves that what we do is hidden from sight. We think, foolishly, that if we don’t get caught, if no one sees us do it, then we are off scot-free. This theory has one major flaw. Though we can’t see God, he always sees us, and he sees us exhaustively. Psalm 139 describes God’s sight of not only what we do, but of what we say, and what we think. No matter which way we turn, God sees it (Prov. 5:21).
The feeling of someone watching us makes us uncomfortable. If we only recognized that the unseen God always sees us, how differently would we live? As the writer to the Hebrews said, “no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account” (Heb 4:13). We often fool other people about who we really are and what we really think. God is never fooled. He discerns the thoughts and intentions of our hearts (Heb 4:12). And, unlike people who sit in shopping centers and parks to “people watch,” God’s sight is not detached. He is the one to whom we must give account.
Each one of us will give an accounting for every rebelliously sinful thought, word, and deed. God isn’t simply watching like some sort of divine busybody, watching to have something to gossip about. He is watching and he will want an account. When he does, apart from Jesus, you will not have an answer. Even if you imagine that there is some excuse for your sinful actions and words, how will you explain away your evil desires?
Do not imagine that in forgiveness, God simply looks away from your sin, that he winks at it, or that he ignores it. He would be a terrible judge if he did that, just as if a human judge threw out the evidence against a murder because he asked for forgiveness. Instead, Jesus lived perfectly before the eyes of his Father, and all those who trust in him are united with him in his perfect righteousness. In the final analysis, do you want to give an account for what God sees in you and your life, or for what he has seen in Christ’s?
Yours in Christ,