Face of God
Dec 10, 2012
John 6:46 "No one has seen the Father except the one who is from God; only he has seen the Father."
No one has ever seen God, the Heavenly Father, at least not His face. The only instance where the Lord has ever revealed Himself was to Moses way back when they had a deep and intimate walk. But even then, the Lord did not show Moses His face. The Lord told Moses that he couldn't handle it, seeing the full glory of the Lord's face. In the New Testament, Jesus said that if we have seen Jesus, then we have also seen the Father. This is clearly referring to the persona but not necessarily His actual face, what the Father looks like. So, is it worth a conversation to speculate what the Lord actually looks like, what His face resembles? There are many descriptions of Him in the Bible but all of them are metaphorical in an effort to describe deeper into His character. So what does He look like? Does He look like a white-hair, grandfather-type? Does He even look like a human? What does He look like in your mind?
The answer to knowing what He looks like will NEVER be revealed while we are on this earth. It is for a reason we are left in the dark regarding what His face really looks like. If you consider all the pictures of His Son, Jesus, you'll instantly think of a Caucasian with brown hair and a light facial complexion because that is how artists famously painted Him many years after His ascension into Heaven. In reality, Jesus probably had coal black hair and very tan skin, and probably resembled nothing of an Eastern European. But we continue to paint pictures of Jesus, carve statues, and give honor to physical images of the Son of God. There are even Christians who wrongfully worship actual images of Jesus. And therein lies the answer as to why we will never know what God looks like. If we knew what He looked like, we would paint pictures of Him and carve replicas of Him and possibly worship those things instead of Him. If we knew what color His skin was, then we may speculate He could not be our own Heavenly Father.
The Lord was very clear that He did not want us worshiping carved images (of Himself or false gods). In the Bible, they are called graven images. To grave something is to carve it with tools, fashion it with human hands. The Lord is not human and cannot be replicated by human hands. To do so would lead to sin. While trying to honor the Lord with an artistic rendering is not a sin, in and of itself, it would lead others to sin or possibly turn them away from who the Heavenly Father really is to them. If we carved Him with our hands, there are those who would worship the actual image. If we carved Him with our hands, there are those who would judge His existence as human. If we carved Him with our hands, there are those who would limit His powers. If we carved Him with our hands, there are those who would deny His deity, deny Him as God.
There are infinite reasons as to why we will never know what the face of The Almighty looks like. I'm glad. My own sin would not allow me to look upon His face (if Moses wasn't worthy, there is slim chance I could pass muster). It reminds us that He is God and we are mere mortals, fleshly and faulty human beings. It keeps Him elevated to the High position He deserves and still allows us to worship His Majesty with awe and wonder. There is no other way I'd rather worship Him then the way He currently has it set up: in Spirit and in Truth. So, don't ever think you know what He looks like, don't even speculate, as it will limit who He really is and can be in your life!
Don't take my word for it; look it up: Ex 3:6, Ex 33:12-23, Ex 34:17, Deut 5:1-11, John 1:18, John 5:37, John 6:46, John 14:9, 2 Cor 4:6
Sunday, December 9, 2012
Face of God
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