January 15, 2023
The Invisible made Visible
“No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him.” John 1:18 (NASB)
I think all of us at one time or another in our childhood have been afraid of something unseen. When I was a child, I remember fearing something was under my bed waiting for me. I later realized that anything big enough to hurt me, probably wouldn’t fit under my bed. Whatever it was it wouldn’t like the smell of my dirty play shoes. It was the unseen that I feared, because of the threat of something possibly taking my life. The Jews were well aware of that kind of fear when they approached a holy God. God is highly respected and feared.
“No one has seen God at any time.” God is an invisible Spirit in history up until this New Testament period. If man looked upon God, it would invite instant death (Ex. 33:20). This death came through trying to enter the presence of God’s holiness. No sinful man could even look upon such holiness without perishing. In 1 Timothy 1:17 we see God is described as invisible, “Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.” Now, God has chosen to make Himself visible with a clarity which man has never known or experienced. Imagine a world for the first time being able to see God incarnate, instead of perishing. John MacArthur says, “It is through Jesus Christ, the image of the invisible God (Col. 1:15), that God is revealed.”[1] This presence of a holy God now appears in human form, with all the attributes of the Father, who is as close as being in the bosom of the Father.
I often wonder what the disciples might have thought while they spent their time with Jesus Christ on earth. The mere fact that they were meeting with God incarnate sometimes is so overwhelming. To watch the miracles performed firsthand must have been so overwhelming. The disciples must have been awestruck and speechless. When the disciples weren’t in a ministry setting, imagine the personal care of God each day. It is no wonder that these men became such great testimonies for the kingdom. They were in the bosom of the Father through the Lord Jesus Christ.
But in all that, there were still those who stood afar off or didn’t follow Him days after. They missed out in seeing firsthand God in the flesh. Someone who could be touched with human hands, let alone being able to see Him without the threat of instant death. Someone they could personally have a conversation and hear His answers. Yet in all this, Jesus was not always with them. He took time alone to travel or to pray early in the mornings.
Today, you and I have the Holy Spirit who lives within us. He too can speak to us twenty-four hours a day, unlike the sometimes-limited access the disciples had. The Holy Spirit can lead us because He too is God in invisible Spirit form. We can access Him though through prayer and His leadings each day. He too is in fellowship in the bosom of the Father. Would you consider a time each day and spend time in the bosom of the Father? When you do, you will be accessing the bosom of the Father.
1 The MacArthur New Testament Commentary, John 1-11 (Moody Publishers, 2006, Chicago, Il.), pg. 45.