Why does John say no one has seen God when other verses declare we will see God?

PROBLEM: On the one hand the Bible claims no one can see God, but on the other hand it says “Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God” (Matthew 5:8) and His servants “shall see His face” (Revelation 22:4) and “we shall see Him as He is” (1 John 3:2).

SOLUTION: The verses which teach that no man can see God are referring to no mortal man in this life. Even Moses was refused this honor (Exodus 33:23). Mortal man is not suited for that exposure. However, what mortal man cannot see in this life, immortal man will see in the next life (1 Corinthians 13:12; Revelation 22:4). This is known as the beatific (blessed) vision and will be the spiritual climax of the believer to see God face-to- face, to know Him directly in His essence and not merely indirectly as reflected through created things (Romans 1:18-20).

JOHN 1:18 — Was Jesus alone the Son of God?

PROBLEM: Jesus is called “the only begotten Son” in this verse. Yet only a few verses earlier John informs us that we can by faith “become children of God” (1:12). If then we are sons of God, how can Jesus be the only Son of God?

SOLUTION: There is a gigantic difference between the senses in which Jesus is the “Son of God” and we are “sons of God.” First, He is the unique Son of God; I am only a son of God. He is the Son of God with a capital “S”; human beings can become sons of God only with a small “s.” Jesus was the Son of God by eternal right of inheritance (Colossians 1:15); we are only the sons of God by adoption (Romans 8:15). He is the Son of God because He is God by His very nature (John 1:1), whereas we are only made in the image of God (Genesis 1:27) and remade in “the image of Him” by redemption (Colossians 3:10). Jesus is of God by His very nature; we are onlyfrom God. He is divine in nature, but we only participate in it by salvation (2 Peter 1:4). And we can participate only in God’s moral attributes (like holiness and love), not in His non-moral attributes (like infinity and eternality). To summarize the differences:

Continues after advertising
Continues after advertising