Has anybody ever seen Him or not? Because I just got finished reading in the OT where Micaiah talks about seeing God enthroned and all of the angels in Heaven standing at attention which sounds like a vision to me. As somebody who has had dreams and visions of God, Jesus, and Heaven, it doesn't sound all that unusual for people to have had these same sort of things in the Bible.
However, it goes off to say in the NT in 1 John 4:12 specifically that "no one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and His love is made complete in us." Yet, Jesus brings this point up again later on in John 14:9 "Jesus answered, don't you know me Phillip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say show us the Father?"
So although I'm a bit confused by all of this, I think what it's saying is that nobody has ever seen God directly. Yet I sort of wonder if that's even possible at all since God is a spirit so I'm not even sure if He has features like we do. Although the Bible does state that we were made in His image and I know for a fact He talks to people and so I guess you would need a mouth for that, and He formed man out of dirt so He would have to have hands for that, and eyes to see what He was doing. Anyway, back to my original question. What does the Bible mean when it says that nobody has ever seen God because I'm not sure I quite understand what each of the verses I quoted is trying to say.
However, it goes off to say in the NT in 1 John 4:12 specifically that "no one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and His love is made complete in us." Yet, Jesus brings this point up again later on in John 14:9 "Jesus answered, don't you know me Phillip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say show us the Father?"
So although I'm a bit confused by all of this, I think what it's saying is that nobody has ever seen God directly. Yet I sort of wonder if that's even possible at all since God is a spirit so I'm not even sure if He has features like we do. Although the Bible does state that we were made in His image and I know for a fact He talks to people and so I guess you would need a mouth for that, and He formed man out of dirt so He would have to have hands for that, and eyes to see what He was doing. Anyway, back to my original question. What does the Bible mean when it says that nobody has ever seen God because I'm not sure I quite understand what each of the verses I quoted is trying to say.