If nobody has ever seen God, how can we know him or recognize his voice?
No one has ever seen God. However, his Son, who came from him, has revealed him to us. God has spoken to us through his Son, through whom all things were created in the beginning and will belong to him in the end. — John 1:18; Hebrews 1:2 The Discussion Bible
The Invisible God
Throughout Scripture, we’re told that God the Father is invisible, dwelling in “unapproachable light” (1 Timothy 6:16). Believing we can see One who is greater than all his creation, including the entire universe, is absurd. That would be like saying we can see “all” the Pacific Ocean. We can see the surface. In one place, we might dive deep to see more. But nobody can see the entire ocean—height, width, and depth.
Yet even a blind man can “see” the ocean by the smell of the salty air and the feel of waves washing across his feet as he walks along the seashore. He just hasn’t seen all of it. In our own spiritual blindness, we are still able to sense God’s presence, hear his voice, and know him to the extent that he can be revealed to us.
That revelation is known as the Word in the beginning, and now that the Word has become flesh. We know him as Jesus, with many other labels that also describe the character and nature of God.
The Visible God
God is not silent or hidden. From the beginning, he revealed himself, walking in the Garden of Eden in the cool of the evenings (Genesis 3:8). Before Jesus was born in Bethlehem, God was already active in human history as “the Angel of the Lord,” “the Commander of the Lord’s army,” and “the Word of the Lord.”
When we open the Bible, we’re not merely reading divine dictation or moral philosophy. We are encountering the living revelation of God’s character—his thoughts, emotions, justice, mercy, and truth—all embodied in his Son.
Jesus didn’t just bring a message from God. He is the message. Everything the Father wants us to know, understand, and become is perfectly displayed in Christ.
Just as sunlight reveals the sun’s presence without our ever touching it, so Jesus reveals the Father—allowing us to perceive God’s heart without being consumed by his glory. We can’t even look directly at the sun without harming our eyes. Does that give us a sense of why Moses could not see God directly? I think so.
Both With and Is God
John said the Word was with God and was God. He also recorded Jesus’ words that he was from God (John 8:42) and not as great as God (John 14:28). This tells us there is more to God than what can be revealed to us.
When God spoke creation into being, his Word brought light (Genesis 1:3). That Word was not mere sound. How do we know that? Intense sound can cut through steel, but it can’t create anything. The creative power of the Word was the living, active presence of Christ at work (John 1:1–4).
Jesus is the divine expression of God’s will and wisdom. When he spoke to calm the sea (Mark 4:39) or to raise Lazarus (John 11:43), the same creative power that said, “Let there be light,” was again speaking—commanding reality itself. Jesus isn’t an echo of God’s will. He’s the voice of it, reverberating throughout creation for all of eternity.
God’s Voice
From Genesis to Revelation, God’s Word has always been the voice of Christ—whether through the Spirit inspiring the prophets, the appearance in the burning bush, or the words spoken by Jesus on Earth (Hebrews 1:1–2).
When Moses heard God on Mount Sinai and when Elijah heard the still small voice (1 Kings 19:12), those encounters were with the pre-incarnate Word—the same divine Person who would later walk among men as Jesus of Nazareth.
Today, that voice still speaks, maybe not audibly, but every bit as real when the Spirit whispers truth to our hearts. When we read: Come to me, all who are overburdened and weary (Matthew 11:28), we might see nothing more than ink on paper. Or it could be much more. It should be much more. It will be much more when those words are carried by the Spirit to touch our hearts. Just as radio waves fill the air, even when you can’t hear them until you tune your receiver, God’s Word is waiting for us to tune in and recognize Jesus’ voice.
The Word Who Speaks Today
The word of God is alive and powerful, sharper than a double-edged sword, cutting through vain beliefs and misconceptions to the hidden truth at the core of our being, reaching our thoughts and motives (Hebrews 4:12). The same Word who spoke galaxies into existence now speaks transformation into human hearts.
Think of Peter walking on the water (Matthew 14:28–31). His faith led him to step out of the boat, but his walking on the water came from the creative power of Jesus’ word: Come! That Word caused the impossible to be possible. In the same way, when his voice touches our spirit, faith leads us to step out, trusting the power of the Word to perform what it commands. We’re not merely following the voice of our imagination. We’re walking on the voice of the One who created oceans and calmed storms.
The Shepherd’s Voice
Jesus said those who belong to him would hear his voice and follow him (John 10:27), which also says that others won’t. Faith is more than believing. The devils do that, and tremble. Faith recognizes his voice because of the relationship we have with him. The more we walk with Christ, the more we learn to love his voice and want to follow him.
But the opposite is also true. The less we listen, the harder it is to hear. That’s why Jesus often said we should listen if we have ears to hear. The Word is always speaking. The question is whether our hearts are tuned to receive it.
From Hearing to Living
Hearing Jesus’ voice without answering his call is like the man who built his house on unstable sand and couldn’t survive the storms (Luke 6:46–49). Faith is more than just hearing. We must be doers, as well—living what we’ve heard him speak to our hearts.
When we forgive an enemy, serve the broken, or trust God in uncertainty, we echo the Word we’ve received. We don’t just reflect Jesus. We become instruments through which his voice continues to resound in the world.
Our obedience is the echo of the Word who first spoke life into us.
The Word Who Lives Forever
Jesus said, “The skies above and the earth below will pass away, but my words will stand forever” (Matthew 24:35). The Word who spoke light into the void still speaks light into our dark world. Some will be drawn to the light while others will be repulsed by it.
The Word who stilled storms can still calm anxious souls. The Word who raised the dead still brings life where there seems to be none.
When you open your Bible, remember—you aren’t just reading about Jesus.
You are hearing his voice.
The Eternal Word
No one has seen him. He’s hidden from sight.
He dwells in a brilliance too blindingly bright.
Yet through his own Word, all Heaven declares,
“The God who is unseen still meets us in prayers.”
Invisible? Yes—but not silent or gone.
His whispers are heard from dusk until dawn.
Like waves on the shore or a gentle breeze,
His presence is felt on the wings of the seas.
The blind man may “see” by the smell of the tide,
By the touch of cool ocean water that rushes beside.
So too, though we’re blinded by sin’s heavy shroud,
We can sense his mercy breaking through the clouds.
He walked in the Garden when evenings were cool,
And called to his children—his voice the first rule.
Before Bethlehem’s stable, before manger straw,
He spoke as the Angel and Word full of awe.
The Word became flesh—God’s heart in a frame,
Revealing his glory, his love, and Jesus his name.
He didn’t just speak of what Heaven had planned—
He is the whole message, God’s voice in our land.
When Jesus calmed the storm, saying, “Peace, be still,”
Creation responded to his irresistible will.
The same voice that said, “Let there be light.”
Still speaks to our hearts in the darkest nights.
God’s voice through prophets, the bush with its flame,
Was always the Word—eternally the same.
The voice that called Moses, Elijah, and John,
Still speaks through Scripture and carries us on.
Tune your heart’s radio. Faith is the key.
His signal fills the skies, the land, and the sea.
The question’s not if he is speaking today—
But whether our hearts are tuned in to obey.
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