What does 1 Timothy 6:16 mean? Paul says no one can see God. But don’t we see Jesus?

In the New Testament, the word God almost always refers to the Father. The Father is invisible. But Jesus is not. The Son of God became human; the Word became flesh. The Father could not have done this, since no one can see him. Consider the following scriptures:

  • “You cannot see my face; for no one shall see me and live” (Exod 33:20). In the presence of the consuming fire (Heb 12:29), we’d be incinerated. We couldn’t possibly bear to see God in all his holiness! That’s why Moses is permitted to see only God’s “back” (Exod 33:18-23).

  • No one has ever seen God. It is God the only Son, who is close to the Father’s heart, who has made him known (John 1:18). Although we cannot see God (the Father), we can know him through Jesus.

  • Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied.” Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and you still do not know me? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?” (John 14:8-9) In the incarnation we know God; we see the Father. See also John 1:14.

  • Paul makes the same claim in Colossians. He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation (Col 1:15). For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily (Col 2:9).

  • To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen (1 Tim 1:17). It is he alone who has immortality and dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see; to him be honour and eternal dominion. Amen (1 Tim 6:16).

So yes, we do see God through Jesus. But we can no more directly behold the Father than we can stare into the sun.