“No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him” (John 1:18).
What is the difference in meaning between the following two questions? 1) “What similarities or differences do you see?” 2) “Do you see what I’m saying?” While both questions use the same verb, the first question uses “see” in a physical sense and the second uses “see” in a mental sense.
It is a grand overstatement, to make a point, to say that in describing the birth of Jesus, Matthew and Luke wrote from a physical perspective while John wrote from a perceptual point of view. Matthew and Luke began with Jesus’ incarnate life on earth. Matthew moved from the past to the present, beginning with Abraham to show Jesus as the legal son of Joseph and therefore an heir of King David. Luke started with the present, the “Second Adam” (Jesus Christ) then traced His lineage to the “First Adam” (“which was of God” by creation).
But John began, in the first eighteen verses of his Gospel, with Jesus’ pre-existence from all eternity (“the Word was God”) to His incarnation (“the Word became flesh”) then affirmed his belief in a primary, orthodox doctrine (“No one has seen God at any time.”). It is true today. God is a spirit. Spirits cannot be seen with our eyes. However, in this verse, John did not choose the ordinary word for “see” (as in physically) but the word that means “to perceive, to understand.”
In a concluding statement John reduces his book to one sentence, “the only begotten (unique, one of a kind God) Son, who is in the bosom (“face to face” companion with intimate knowledge) of the Father, He has declared (this Greek word is where we get our English word “exegete,” to lead out, to show by explanation) Him.” Jesus Christ has “brought God out where He can be seen,” has made God “as plain as day” because He “represented the fulness of God—as abounding in mercy, as exhibiting the divine attributes, and as possessing in himself all that is necessary to fill his people with truth, and grace, and love” (Barnes).
What was John saying? Here was an indictment against humanity. God’s chosen nation had never seen God physically. When given the opportunity to see God shown by explanation in human flesh, many of them still would not see (perceive, understand).
What do you think about this statement, “there is no true and full knowledge of God which is not obtained through his Son, Jesus Christ”? Is it true? Why or why not? Paul David Tripp said, “See yourself and weep. See your God and rejoice.”
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