-
The portrait of God as a kindly, bearded Father
seated somewhere on a lofty throne is not the portrait given to us in
His Word.
-
As for as His essential being is concerned, God is
completely indiscernible and unapproachable by any of His created
beings.
-
He can only be known as He has revealed Himself in
the Person of Jesus Christ.
1. God's essential being cannot be
approached or seen by any finite creature.
-
Ex. 33:18-20 - And he said, “Please,
show me Your glory.” 19Then
He said, “I will make all My goodness pass before you, and I
will proclaim the name of the LORD before you. I will be gracious to
whom I will be gracious, and I will have compassion on whom I will
have compassion.”
20But He said, “You cannot see My face; for no man shall see Me,
and live.”
-
John 1:18 - No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten
Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.
-
Rom. 1:20 - For since the creation of the world His invisible
attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are
made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without
excuse,
-
1 Tim. 6:15b-16 - 15which He will manifest in His own time, He who
is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings and Lord of
lords, 16who alone has immortality, dwelling in unapproachable light,
whom no man has seen or can see, to whom be honor and everlasting
power. Amen.
2. God's essential being is not corporeal (having a material
body), but is spiritual.
-
Isa. 46:5 - “To whom will you liken Me, and make Me equal And
compare Me, that we should be alike?
-
John 4:24 - God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must
worship in spirit and truth.”
3. Jesus alone has "seen" the Father, and He alone makes
the Father known.
-
John 1:18 - No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten
Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.
-
John 6:46 - Not that anyone has seen the Father, except He who
is from God; He has seen the Father.
-
John 14:9b - Jesus said to him, “Have
I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who
has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, 'Show us the
Father'?
-
Col. 1:15 - He is the image of the invisible God, the
firstborn over all creation.
-
Heb. 1:3 - who being the brightness of His glory and the
express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of
His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the
right hand of the Majesty on high,
|
