Have you ever caught yourself thinking of God’s appearance
as pictured in the numerous paintings drawn from the mind of man? I have. Of
course, we cannot gain our ideas of God from our own imagination or from
paintings, but from the Bible. No one has ever actually seen God, the Father,
at any time (John 1:18). However, when we arrive in heaven, we will
perceive God as He is and share in His glory with Jesus, our Lord and Savior.
We will fall down and worship Jesus in the presence of the Father and the
Spirit.
In truth, Jesus is the actual face and form of God. After
His resurrection, Jesus had an immortal body. We can see from verses describing
Him after His resurrection, that He still looked like a person; however, He had
supernatural abilities (Luke 24:30-31). When we pass from this life, our
very next breath will be in the celestial air of heaven. We will be glorified
and look just like Jesus (1 John 3:2). We will put off mortality and
put on incorruption (1 Corinthians 15:54).
Then, we shall see the glory of God as a bright fire, and
surrounding His throne is the brightness of a rainbow all around Him (Ezekiel
1:26-28; 1 Timothy 6:16). Moses saw God as fire that burned in a bush, but
did not consume the tree (Exodus 3:2). From all Biblical accounts, God,
the first person in the Trinity, does not have a physical form, because He is a
spirit and is invisible (John 4:24; 1 Timothy 1:17).
Verses such as "For I have seen God face to face, and
my life is preserved” (Gen. 32:30), is what scholars call a
Christophany. This means that Jesus, Immanuel – God with us - appears to people
as the face and form of the triune God. Jesus appeared to Adam and Eve in the
cool of the garden (Genesis 3;8), Jacob wrestled with Him (Genesis
32:24), Moses and the elders ate with Him (Exodus
24:11; Numbers 12:8), Cain left His presence (Genesis
4:16) and the Heavenly hosts worship Him (Matthew 18:10; Luke 2:9).
When John saw Jesus in heaven, He was clothed in a long
robe with a golden sash around his chest. His hair is white as wool and snow.
His eyes are like flames of fire. His feet like burnished bronze, which was
refined in a furnace. His voice sounded like the roar of a huge waterfall. His
words, then as now, like a two-edged sword (Hebrews 4:12). His face
shone with the sun’s full strength (Revelation 1:14:16; Daniel 7:9).
We will comprehend the glory of God when we see the face of Jesus (2
Corinthians 4:6).
Prayer:
Father God, we love you with our whole heart. You are our
strength, our Rock, our shield, our stronghold, our fortress and our deliverer.
We take refuge in You. You are the provider of our eternal salvation. We call
on You, and praise You, for You are worthy. Thank You for protecting us from
our enemies (Psalm 18:1-3). Our language has no words to
illustrate Your awesome glory. You are the indescribable God.
Thought for the Day:
Jesus told the apostles, that they had already seen the
Father, because they saw Him. – John 14:7