John tells his readers that no man has ever seen God at any time whatsoever (1John 4:12). What a strange thing to say! At first, John’s statement about the Lord’s invisibility seems to hang out there like a loose thread that was never sewn into the garment. How does this statement fit into John’s argument? Well, it may be significant that John mentions the word “God” only fifteen times prior to chapter four. However, in chapters four and five, he mentions God forty-nine times, twenty-nine in chapter four and twenty in chapter five. How can John speak of God and tell us what God is like, if John had never seen him? Moreover, if God is invisible, how can anyone, including the antichrists, tell us what God is like?
I think it might be interesting to skim through the Scriptures where applicable in an effort to ascertain the meaning of John’s statement. In Genesis 32 Jacob wrestled with a man, whom he identified as God, and Jacob said he saw God face to face (Genesis 32:30). On another occasion Moses asked to see God’s glory, but the Lord told him no man would be able to look upon his face and live (Exodus 33:20), yet, later the Lord told Aaron and Miriam that he spoke with Moses face to face (Numbers 12:8). So, there seems to be a relationship between Numbers 12:8 and Genesis 32:30, but Exodus 33:20 seems to deny that a man could, literally, behold the face of God. Therefore Genesis 32 and Numbers 12 seem to imply some physical manifestation of God (a man, a pillar of fire etc.), but such manifestations could never be the literal shape or form of God (cp. John 5:37).
When we come to the New Covenant text, we are told that no one has ever seen God at any time, but his Only Begotten Son (Only Begotten God in some translations) has fully expressed him (John 1:18). This is in the light of the Word, who is God (John 1:1) becoming flesh in order to be seen by mankind (John 1:14), and in his flesh the one who became Jesus showed us what God is like. Finally, Paul tells us that God is invisible (1Timothy 1:17), and it would be impossible for any man to actually see God, but at the same time Jesus, who alone has immortality, dwells in the unapproachable Light that is God (1Timothey 6:14-16).
Into this context, then, we can now read “No one has ever seen God…” (1John 4:12), but God (John 1:1) became manifest in flesh (John 1:14), and John was able to see, hear and touch him (1John 1:1). The invisible and unapproachable God had become flesh, visible and approachable. One could actually see, hear and touch GOD! This God-made-manifest told his disciples that they would abide in him and he in them (John 15:4-5; 1John 4:12; cp. 17:23, 26). Thus, the children of God (1John 3:1-2) live in intimate, unveiled face to unveiled face (2Corinthians 3:18) fellowship with God, according to the Gospel of Christ. Yet, it is this very thing that was being denied by the false prophets (1John 4:1), who were the antichrists (1John 4:3) who preached among John’s readers at the time of his letter. The antichrists claimed Christ was not coming in the flesh of his disciples (1John 4:2-3), but John was claiming it was truly so, that he was coming in our flesh. Who was correct, and how would we know?
If people are making statements about an unseen God, or anything that cannot be seen for that matter, then, it falls upon the one making such claims to produce the evidence that shows what they claim is true. The antichrists claimed Jesus wasn’t God manifest, and he wasn’t coming in the flesh of man. Their evidence was their teaching that Christ never dies (John 12:34), and the Lord gave us the Law, which, if a man kept, he would live, but if a man sins, forgiveness was provided in the Law through animal sacrifice. Therefore, we don’t need a Savior like the one preached by followers of Christ. Thus, their argument is one of logic and interpretation of the Scriptures.
On the other hand, John (as Jacob and Moses before him) claimed that he had seen God manifest, and he told his disciples that his death and resurrection, which were ultimately fulfilled in his abiding in man and man in him, is exactly how he would save mankind. This abiding occurs, when men fulfill the love of God for man by expressing his love (i.e. God’s love) for his brother by sharing what he has with those who have not (1John 4:12; cp. 2:5-6; 3:17).
Yet, doing as Jesus did, namely helping those in need, may prove one is Jesus’ disciple, but how does such a thing prove Jesus abides in his disciple. Many students believe and follow their teachers, but this doesn’t mean that their teachers abide in their students and vice versa. The proof John offers that Jesus abides in the believer is the only proof that can be given. If God abides in a man, the man would come to know it by the Spirit of God in him (1John 4:13). In other words, such a thing can be known, only if the Spirit of God in man makes himself known. God is unapproachable and cannot be understood through physical means, but he is able to manifest himself to anyone he wishes, and he promised to do so, if we honor him by loving the brethren (1John 4:12-13).
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