“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 does that mean, “No one has seen God at any time”? No one in history has ever seen the full, undiminished glory of God in His total essenceโthough there are many who would love to. Moses prayed for it in Exodus 33 when he said, “Please, show me Your glory” (v. 18).
That’s quite a prayer! I mean, Moses saw the Red Sea open up. He got to see manna on the ground every day in the wilderness, and water coming out of a rock. But after all those incredible, miraculous experiences, he still said, “I want to see Your glory.”
And God was so tender with him. He said, “You know, if I let you do that, you’ll just burn up. You’ll fry. No man can see Me and live. No man can see the undiminished fullness of God in His essence.” But God promised to pass before Moses so he could see the afterglow, the after-effect of His presence (see vv. 19-23).
Now look back at John 1:18 and notice the thought of the verse. “The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has [revealed] Him” (paraphrase). That is, He has declared Him or shown Him forth.
It’s just like the time Philip said, “Lord, all we want is just for You to show us the Father,” and Jesus responded, “Have I been so long a time with you, you don’t know who I am? If you’ve seen me, you’ve seen the Father” (see John 14:8-9). Just like He told the Jews in John 10:30, “I and My Father are one.”
I understand Moses’ prayer. I’ve been in difficult situations where Iโve said, “Oh, Lord, just give me a glimpse of your glory. Just give me a little more. It will get me through this experience.”
But you see, Jesus shows us God. And here’s what I think is the point: God seems distant and fuzzy and unclear, until Jesus comes along and makes Him clear.
When you hear Jesus speak, that’s God talking. You’re hearing the words of God spoken from the lips of the Messiah. When you see how Jesus treats people, like healing the sick, you are seeing God in action. You are seeing God’s compassion, His love for people. That’s what it means when John 1:18 says, “He has brought Him forth.”
And so, we should bring verses 14 and 18 of John 1 together. “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory.” And, “No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.”
When John the Baptist said, “I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness” (v. 23), he was quoting Isaiah 40, saying, “I’m not the Word. I’m just the voice declaring the Word. He’s the real Message. I’m just the messenger.”
You have a message, and that Message is Jesus. You’re just the messenger. The world is in a mess. And the world in a mess needs messengers giving the Message.
Keep Jesus at the center of your life. Learn His Word. Take it in and learn to love it.
Follow Him. Serve Him. Be His messenger.
