Aoratos: The Invisible God

Word of the Week

January 25, 2025

Aoratos: The Invisible God

 

Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen

1 Timothy 1:17 NASB20

 

The reality of the invisible should not startle us.  Invisible electromagnetic waves fill our screens with images of people thousands of miles away.  Sound waves saturate our homes with music.  We even hold conversations with little boxes named Alexa that give us weather forecasts and recipes for goulash.

Alexa, of course, is not a real person.  We are accustomed to the idea that we can use our phones to converse with someone we can’t see. However, we know that there’s a real person on the other end of the call, someone with a physical body that we could see if we were in their location.

Many people have trouble accepting the idea that an invisible Person like God truly exists.  That’s why people who pray so often have some mental image of God, ranging from an elderly gentleman to a bolt of lightning.  If God is really a person, why can’t we see him.

The Bible clearly claims that God is invisible.  He doesn’t have a physical shape that you can sketch. At the same time, there are Scripture verses that talk about seeing God.  Let’s investigate this aspect of God’s character by studying the Greek word for “invisible.”

The word used in the New Testament is aoratos [ah-AW-rah-toss].  It occurs 5 times, and the meaning is straightforward: “unable to be seen with one’s eyes.”  The Greeks formed the word by putting a negative (“a”) in front of the word for “visible.”

What do we learn from these 5 passages?

1. God is invisible. He is called “the invisible God” in Colossians 1:15 and 1 Timothy 1:17.

 

This concept is taught in other verses that don’t use the Greek word aoratos.

• John 1:18 – No one has ever seen God.
• 1 John 4:12 – No man has ever seen God.
• John 6:46 – Not that any one has seen the Father except him who is from God [Jesus].
• 1 Timothy 6:16 – [God] who dwells in unapproachable light, whom no man has ever seen or can see.

 

2. God’s attributes are invisible, but they can be known by looking at things that are visible. Romans 1:20 declares that his invisible attributes – his eternal power and divine nature – have been clearly seen through the creation.

 

3. We can know about the invisible God by seeing Jesus.

Colossians 1:15 calls Jesus “the image of the invisible God.”

 

4. God is not the only invisible being in the universe.

Colossians 1:16 says that all things were created by Jesus, “both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible.”  The verse goes on to describe a range of angelic powers that operate in the unseen world.

We easily forget that there is an entire realm of activity that goes on “behind the curtain,” so to speak, where angels good and bad contend for mastery.

This truth is taught unmistakably in Scripture, but we are left with some questions.  What about the Bible verses that seem to describe people seeing God?

We don’t even have to include stories like the burning bush or his lunch with Abraham in Genesis 18.  Exodus 33:11 tells us that “God spoke to Moses face to face as a man speaks to his friend.”  Then we read of a revealing encounter between God and Moses.  Moses asked to see God’s face, but the Lord replied, “You cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live” (Exodus 33:20).  However, God agreed to a partial substitute experience: he directed His servant to a sheltered place in the rocks.  From there, Moses could see God’s “back” as He passed by.

The answer is wrapped in mystery, but it seems clear that humans can never see the deepest essence of God’s person.  He goes beyond our ability to perceive.  However, He does choose to reveal Himself.  At times He granted visible glimpses of His glory like the pillar of fire that rested over the tabernacle or the glory that filled the Temple.

Would you like to see God?  Right now, the way to see God is to look at Jesus.

• He said, “He who has seen me has seen the Father” (John 14:9).
• John explained that “No one has seen God at any time, but the only begotten Son has revealed Him (John 1:18).
• Hebrews calls Him “the exact representation of His nature” (Hebrews 1:3).

And we have the intriguing promises of Scripture that we will see Him even more fully when we are with Him in eternity.

• Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God (Matthew 5:8).
• We will see Him “face to face.” (! Corinthians 13:12).
• We shall see Him as he is (1 John 3:2).

And finally, “his servants shall worship him; they shall see his face, and his name shall be on their foreheads” (Revelation 22:3-4).

We may never see all the fulness of God’s glory, but we can look forward to see a lot more of Him when we share life in the New Jerusalem.

Study Hint:

This is one of those topics where the definition of the Greek word is uncomplicated, yet it connects to a much bigger set of questions.  We noted many passages this week that did not use the word aoratos, yet they touched the same concept.  We can use this as a reminder that there is more to Bible study than just word meanings.  It is always important to know the meaning of the words, but we will also have to consider the whole teaching of Scripture as we build our understanding of theology.

 

Coming Up

When Isaiah saw a vision of God’s throne room, the seraphim were saying, “Holy, holy, holy.”  It sounds as if holiness is at the top of the list of God’s attributes.  Next week we will take a look at the Greek word for that dominant aspect of God’s character.

©Ezra Project 2025