Q & A

Will we see God in heaven?

Answer

Yes, believers will spend eternity with the Lord, and we will see God. The clearest verse about this is Revelation 22:3–4: “The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. They will see his face and his name will be on their foreheads.” However, this does not resolve the question: Which person of the triune God will we see?

Scripture consistently teaches that no person has seen or can see God the Father. Jesus taught, “God is spirit” (John 4:24), meaning He is immaterial. In John 1:18 it says no one except the Lord Jesus “has ever seen God” (see also John 6:46; 1 John 4:12). Paul described the Father as “the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God” (1 Tim. 1:17) who “dwells in unapproachable light, whom none of mankind has seen or can see” (1 Tim. 6:16).

God told Moses, “You cannot see my face, for no one can see me and live” (Ex. 33:20), yet afterward God allowed Moses to see His back (33:21–23). Moses did not actually see God but saw His glory (33:22). When Moses brought the elders to Mount Sinai, “they saw the God of Israel” (Ex. 24:10). But the Hebrew verb chazah (“saw”) generally means to see in a vision (see Num. 24:4, 16). In the same way, when Isaiah (Isaiah 6) and Daniel (Daniel 7) saw the Lord, it was in a vision.

We will see God in our forever future, but it will be God the Son, the Lord Jesus. In response to Philip’s request to show them the Father, the Lord Jesus said, “The one who has seen me has seen the Father” (John 14:9). And in Revelation 22:3–4, mentioned above, a better translation would be, “The throne of God, even the Lamb, will be in the city, and His servants will serve Him. They will see His face.” It is the Lamb, the Lord Jesus, who is fully God, who will be seen. And when we see Him, I guarantee, we will not be disappointed.

About the Author

Michael Rydelnik

Dr. Michael Rydelnik is a professor of Jewish Studies at Moody Bible Institute and the host of Moody Radio’s Open Line with Michael Rydelnik.

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