@FoundationMatters
Why can’t we see God?
In order to answer this question there are a few things we need to consider. Firstly, our eyes are only able to see physical things. But the Bible tells us in John 4:24 that ‘God is Spirit’. He does not have a body like we do - He is invisible. Now a lot of people come to the conclusion that God cannot be real because we cannot see him physically. But actually there are a lot of things in this world that we cannot see but we know to be real. Take the wind for example. We can’t see the wind because it is an invisible force of nature, but we know it's there. We can feel the wind and we can see its effect on things. When we see trees swaying or kites flying in the sky we know that these things are happening because of the wind. In some ways God is a little like this. We cannot see Him with our eyes but we can see Him working in the world around us.
A second reason why we can’t see God is because He is omnipresent. This means that God is everywhere present at the same time. ‘"Can anyone hide from me in a secret place? Am I not everywhere in all the heavens and earth?” says the Lord.’ So, if God were to take on a physical form He would have to be limited to being in one place at one time. But because He is spirit, He is able to be present everywhere at the same time which is pretty amazing if you think about it!
The third reason why we cannot see God is because He is holy. God in His very nature is perfect and pure. The Bible is clear that ‘Everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard’. So it is important to understand that we are too sinful to be in the presence of a Holy God. Our sins separate us from Him. The Bible even goes as far as to say ‘“But you may not look directly at my face, for no one may see me and live.”’ If He were to stand before us in His full glory and power for all to see we would die!
Psalm 14 says ‘The Lord looks down from heaven on the entire human race; he looks to see if anyone is truly wise, if anyone seeks God.’ The fact that God is invisible means that for us it requires faith in order to believe that He is real. God places a high value on this kind of faith to the extent that He is always looking for people who are willing to trust Him.