Who has been Face to Face with God?

John on the Nature of God — 1

Who Created the Confusion?

Perhaps one thing Christians can agree about is the fact that there is a good deal of confusion about the nature of God. But this is nothing new! None of us have been face to face with God. So how can we know about the nature of God?The confusion over God’s nature began early in the history of the church. And there were many teachers, with divisive doctrinal positions on the nature of God. But none of them had been face to face with God!

There was Marcion who disseminated his Gentile version of Christianity that rejected the “Hebrew” roots of the scripture and became popular in Rome. The Gnostics also held an anti-Jewish bias. Gnostic teachers taught multiple versions of God’s nature. But, they all shared a message of salvation from the bondage of the material existence through the special knowledge that they possessed. They were perhaps the “new age” spiritualists of the ancient world.

And then there was Mani, the spiritual leader of Manichaeism. His syncretistic religious philosophy taught a dualistic cosmology — the struggle between darkness and light. Due to their ‘sex is evil’ ideology they rejected the humanity of Jesus Christ. Augustine of Hippo, a revered ‘Early Church Father’ of the Catholic church was profoundly influenced by Mani. His 9 years as a member of the Manichaean church had a profound impact on his philosophy. Then, there was Arius, the one who proposed the idea that Christ was a created being distinct from the Father. None of these religious leaders had been face to face with God. Rather, their religion was a mixture of paganism, neo-platonism, and eastern religious thought that informed a syncretistic Christianity.

Where Can we Find the Truth?

With so many confusing and conflicting ideas about the nature of God, how can we know the truth? The apostle John has the answer. He lived in a time of rising religious turmoil. In his day, Christians were splintering into many factions based on their differing understandings about the nature of God and Jesus. So John wrote to clarify the truth. He was the ‘beloved disciple’ who had lived and worked intimately with Jesus during his ministry. And, it was to John that God gave the ‘last word.’ John was the one who outlived all the other apostles. He was the one who was inspired to assemble the new testament canon of scripture.

John’s gospel is unique. In his writings he clarifies matters that were not covered in the 3 synoptic gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke. It is John who tells the reader explicitly that Jesus said no one had seen God, the Father, at any time. Nor had anyone heard God the Father, except Jesus who was sent by the Father. For those who take the scripture as their guide, and who believe every word of God is inspired, this presents a dilemma. Why? The Hebrew scriptures recount many instances in which the Lord God of Israel was both seen and/or heard!

Moses was Face to Face with God

Moses, in recording the Lord’s words, declared at least 8 times in Deuteronomy that the people of Israel heard the voice of God. He spoke to all Israel from the mountain when giving the commandments. Jacob saw God ‘face to face’ and lived to tell about it! And the Lord God, in rebuking Aaron and Miriam for their presumptuous words, declared that he spoke to Moses face to face as a man speaks to his friend. And these are just a few of the many stories that recount the Lord God interacting with his people.

So if we are to believe the scriptures, what must we conclude as we reconcile the accounts of John with those of Moses? Can we not say unequivocally, that the Lord God of Israel could not have been the Father, who no one has seen or heard! This would seem to be the reality, the truth, as John understood it, and was inspired to write it.

But of course, that leaves us with a question. Jesus told his disciples that he had come to reveal the Father, the being the world had not known until that point when Jesus Christ came into the world as a human being. So does John also clarify for the believer, the question of who was the Lord God of Israel? Can we know who covenanted with Israel to be their God through Moses as mediator? John gives us many clues to consider.