D.A. Carson writes the following on seeing God. “No one has ever seen God,” John reminds us (1:18). Isn’t that what God said in Exodus 33? “You cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live” (Exod. 33:20). Now John adds an exception: “But the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known” (John 1:18). Do you hear what this text is saying? Do you want to know what God looks like? Look at Jesus. “No one has ever seen God,” and God in all of his transcendent splendor we still cannot see until the last day. But the Word became flesh; God became a human being with the name of Jesus, and we can see him. That is why Jesus later says to one of his own disciples (as we saw earlier in this chapter), “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father” (John 14:9).
Do you want to know what the character of God is like? Study Jesus. Do you want to know what the holiness of God is like? Study Jesus. Do you want to know what the wrath of God is like? Study Jesus. Do you want to know what the forgiveness of God is like? Study Jesus. Do you want to know what the glory of God is like? Study Jesus all the way to that wretched cross. Study Jesus.1
[Tweet “Here are 44 Bible verses with one common theme: seeing God.”]