What does God look like?
Maybe you picture God as an old man with a white beard on a cloud. Most people have some image in their head. Here is what the Bible actually says about what God looks like.
God the Father is spirit (John 4:24); He doesn’t have a physical body, and no one has ever seen Him fully: “No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son… has made Him known” (John 1:18). When people in the Bible saw visions of God, they saw overwhelming light and glory, a throne, brilliant color and a rainbow (Ezekiel 1:26–28; Revelation 4:2–3). If you want to know what God is like, look at Jesus: “Anyone who has seen Me has seen the Father” (John 14:9). And believers will one day see His face (Revelation 22:4).
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Moses asked to see God’s glory
Moses spoke with God face to face, as a friend (Exodus 33:11), and still he asked for more: “Please show me Your glory.” God answered, “You cannot see My face, for no one can see Me and live.” So He hid Moses in a cleft of the rock, covered him with His hand, and passed by, letting Moses see only His back (Exodus 33:18–23). When Moses came down, his face was so radiant that people were afraid to come near him (Exodus 34:29–30).
What people saw in visions
Isaiah saw the Lord seated on a high and lofty throne, with the train of His robe filling the temple, and angels crying “Holy, holy, holy” (Isaiah 6:1–3). Ezekiel saw a throne of sapphire, a figure of glowing fire, and brightness like a rainbow, “the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD” (Ezekiel 1:26–28). John saw One seated on the throne who shone like jasper and carnelian, surrounded by a rainbow like an emerald (Revelation 4:2–3).
Why we can’t see Him now
God’s holiness and glory are so great that sinful people could not survive seeing Him fully (Exodus 33:20). That is why He made Himself visible in Jesus, “the image of the invisible God” (Colossians 1:15).
When we will see Him
“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God” (Matthew 5:8). In the new creation, “They will see His face” (Revelation 22:4).
What the Bible says
- 01
God is spirit.
“God is Spirit, and His worshipers must worship Him in spirit and in truth.””
John 4:24 - 02
The Son makes Him known.
“No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is Himself God and is at the Father’s side, has made Him known.”
John 1:18 - 03
Seeing Jesus is seeing the Father.
“Jesus replied, “Philip, I have been with you all this time, and still you do not know Me? Anyone who has seen Me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?”
John 14:9 - 04
Moses and God’s glory.
“Then Moses said, “Please show me Your glory.” “I will cause all My goodness to pass before you,” the LORD replied, “and I will proclaim My name—the LORD—in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” But He added, “You cannot see My face, for no one can see Me and live.” The LORD continued, “There is a place near Me where you are to stand upon a rock, and when My glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft of the rock and cover you with My hand until I have passed by. Then I will take My hand away, and you will see My back; but My face must not be seen.””
Exodus 33:18–23 - 05
The throne.
“At once I was in the Spirit, and I saw a throne standing in heaven, with someone seated on it. The One seated there looked like jasper and carnelian, and a rainbow that gleamed like an emerald encircled the throne.”
Revelation 4:2–3 - 06
We will see His face.
“They will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads.”
Revelation 22:4
Scripture from the Berean Standard Bible.
Read Isaiah 6:1–8. Notice what seeing God’s glory did to Isaiah, and what God did for him next.
Common questions
Is God an old man with a beard?
No. That image comes from art. God the Father is spirit. Daniel saw “the Ancient of Days” with hair white like wool (Daniel 7:9), a picture of His eternal wisdom, not His physical appearance.
Has anyone ever seen God?
People have seen visions of His glory, and many saw Jesus, who is God the Son. No one has seen the Father fully (John 1:18).
Will we see God in heaven?
Yes. Believers will see His face (Revelation 22:4).
Bring your real question.
Talk is a place on Become to ask anything, in your own words and your own language, any hour. No question is too honest.