The question of God’s invisibility has given birth to several forms of beliefs that we can find on Earth today. Man’s inability to see God has been one of the major points for arguments about God’s existence. In fact, it’s one of the driving factors triggering arguments as to whether God exists or not. Some people, like atheists, have, however, concluded that the inability of man to see God or “any god” is a factor that indicates that such a God does not exist. They posit that when a being or thing remains undetectable scientifically or by whatever conventional way of proving or discovering, such a being or thing is akin to a non-existing object or entity.
It’s also something to ponder as to why humans claim to always hear from God and yet never claim to have seen him. In most cases, when humans claim to have seen God, it’s not often in “the literal sense,” as may be the case with hearing from him. In the Christian faith, we believe humans, as long as they are God’s children and they have cultivated that habit of consistent fellowship with God, have the potential to hear from God even with the natural ear. Nevertheless, such is not so with seeing God with the naked eye. This poses another question as to why one could have the ability to hear the voice of a person he does not see. Since he has not seen the Lord, how sure is he that it’s the voice of the Lord? In fact, there’s another question on the table: why would God, being a Father, hide himself from his children?
The Bible Answers
The Bible never denies the inability of humans to see God. In fact, it makes it clear that no one has ever seen God.
John 1:18 (KJV) No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.
The above Bible passage underscores the fact that God’s invisibility is from generation to generation. It’s not peculiar to a certain generation. Had it been that the Bible characters claimed to have seen God “in the literal sense” and that it is possible to see God in that same sense and humans have tried the ancient prescriptions in seeing God and couldn’t see him, we could have counted them as liars.
In fact, Job, a man whom there is no guilt, admitted that God is invisible and undetectable:
Job 9:11 (KJV) Lo, he goeth by me, and I see him not: he passeth on also, but I perceive him not.
Are we not surprised that in the above Bible passage that despite Job’s inability to see God or perceive him, he “somehow somehow” knew that he exists? This is why it’s too risky to say that God does not exist because he can’t be seen or detected, that is, concluding that God’s invisibility is a factor that he doesn’t exist. Because in those days, God was unseen, yet humans knew that He existed and that he lived somewhere. This implies that there could have been ancient mechanisms by which men detected God’s existence. This is a plausible reason for the Tower of Babel in Genesis 11. The thing is, however, that men could have had a misconceived idea about God in those days and did not know who He really was. Men built that Tower because they knew God existed somewhere. They detected His existence by an ancient mechanism that is obviously unknown to us. But they never knew who He really was. Meanwhile, men like Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, and the prophets that follow detected and knew God existed because of His consistent raw appearance, demonstrations of powers, and faith.
Why God Remains Invisible to Humans
- God is Big and Majestic
The Bible lets us understand that God has chosen to remain invisible at the moment for “human benefits.” He’s not scary, but he is so big that if he were to come in his Majesty, not even the Earth would contain him.
He’s so big that he measured the oceans in the hollow of his hands.
Isaiah 40:12-13 (KJV) Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and meted out heaven with the span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance?
The Earth wouldn’t even stay in the face of its Creator:
Revelation 20:11 (KJV) And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.
In fact, the Bible revealed that when God appeared at Mount Sinai, the children of Israel quaked and were terrified.
Hebrews 12:19-21 (KJV) And the sound of a trumpet, and the voice of words; which voice they that heard intreated that the word should not be spoken to them any more:(For they could not endure that which was commanded, And if so much as a beast touch the mountain, it shall be stoned, or thrust through with a dart:And so terrible was the sight, that Moses said, I exceedingly fear and quake:)
- The Human Body is Corrupt
It has been said that man couldn’t see God because He’s a Spirit. But, in the Scripture, it’s demonstrated that it’s possible for man to see a spirit.
Luke 24:37 (KJV) But they were terrified and affrighted, and supposed that they had seen a spirit.
This implies that the fact that God is a Spirit does not imply or justify the inability of man to see Him. Men see ghosts or spirits in the Scripture.
Human inability to see God is a result of the fact that the human body is corrupt. The Scripture tells us that God has no rapport with corruption.
Acts 13:35 (KJV) Wherefore he saith also in another psalm, Thou shalt not suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.
To be continued…
