Seeing God?

 

Seeing God seems to be concomitant with being holy and doing good.

 

Matthew 5:8
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
(Whole Chapter: Matthew 5 In context: Matthew 5:7-9)

 

3 Jn 1:11

11      Dear friend, do not imitate what is evil but what is good. Anyone who does what is good is from God. Anyone who does what is evil has not seen God.  (NIV)

 

Hebrews 12:14
Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord.
(Whole Chapter: Hebrews 12 In context: Hebrews 12:13-15)

 

How can we see God?

 

2 Corinthians 4:6
For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness,"[ 4:6 Gen. 1:3] made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.
(Whole Chapter: 2 Corinthians 4 In context: 2 Corinthians 4:5-7)

 

This passage shows that the face of Christ was seen by many before and after his resurrection, and can still be experienced.  However:

 

John 1:18

18      No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father's side, has made him known.  (NIV)

 

Who is both God and “at the father’s side”? 

 

Acts 2
³²God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of the fact. ³³Exalted to the right hand of God, he has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear.

 

I Jn 4:12

12      No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.  (NIV)

 

So then, no one has other seen God the Father, but many have seen Jesus Christ, who is God.  These and other epiphanies must be Jesus Christ. 

 

Judg 13:21-24

21      When the angel of the LORD did not show himself again to Manoah and his wife, Manoah realized that it was the angel of the LORD.

22      "We are doomed to die!" he said to his wife. "We have seen God!"

23      But his wife answered, "If the LORD had meant to kill us, he would not have accepted a burnt offering and grain offering from our hands, nor shown us all these things or now told us this."

24      The woman gave birth to a boy and named him Samson. He grew and the LORD blessed him,  (NIV)

 

Gen 32:30

30                So Jacob called the place Peniel, saying, "It is because I saw God face to face, and yet my life was spared."  (NIV)

 

 

Seeking His Face

2 Chr 7:14

14      if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.

(NIV)

 

Ps 27:7-10

7        Hear my voice when I call, O LORD; be merciful to me and answer me.

8        My heart says of you, "Seek his face!" Your face, LORD, I will seek.

9        Do not hide your face from me, do not turn your servant away in anger; you have been my helper. Do not reject me or forsake me, O God my Savior.

10      Though my father and mother forsake me, the LORD will receive me.  (NIV)

 

Ps 105:4

4        Look to the LORD and his strength; seek his face always.  (NIV)

 

 

These 3 passages all use the following word, which means, face:

 

 

6440  paniym (paw-neem');

 

plural (but always as singular) of an unused noun [paneh (paw-neh'); from 6437]; the face (as the part that turns); used in a great variety of applications (literally and figuratively); also (with prepositional prefix) as a preposition (before, etc.):

 

KJV-- + accept, a- before (-time), against, anger, X as (long as), at, + battle, + because (of), + beseech, countenance, edge, + employ, endure, + enquire, face, favour, fear of, for, forefront (-part), form (-er time, -ward), from, front, heaviness, X him (-self), + honourable, + impudent, + in, it, look [-eth] (-s), X me, + meet, X more than, mouth, of, off, (of) old (time), X on, open, + out of, over against, the partial, person, + please, presence, propect, was purposed, by reason of, + regard, right forth, + serve, X shewbread, sight, state, straight, + street, X thee, X them (-selves), through (+-out), till, time (-s) past, (un-) to (-ward), + upon, upside (+down), with (-in, + -stand), X ye, X you.

 

2 Sam 21:1

 

1        During the reign of David, there was a famine for three successive years; so David sought the face of the LORD. The LORD said, "It is on account of Saul and his blood-stained house; it is because he put the Gibeonites to death."

(NIV)

 

 

This one uses a different word for face:

 

Song 2:14

14      My dove in the clefts of the rock, in the hiding places on the mountainside, show me your face, let me hear your voice; for your voice is sweet, and your face is lovely.  (NIV)

 

4758  mar'eh (mar-eh');

from 7200; a view (the act of seeing); also an appearance (the thing seen), whether (real) a shape (especially if handsome, comeliness; often plural the looks), or (mental) a vision:

 

KJV-- X apparently, appearance (-reth), X as soon as beautiful (-ly), countenance, fair, favoured, form, goodly, to look (up) on (to), look [-eth], pattern, to see, seem, sight, visage, vision.