Bob Cassell, Messenger

No man has seen God at any time (John 1:18). This is not a reference to Jesus Christ, who is the revealed member of the Godhead. It is a reference to the attributes of all three members of the trinity; each member of the Godhead possesses the same essence. The Godhead is comprised of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. God the Father is the originator of the amazing plan of salvation; God the Son is the executor of this plan, and God the Holy Spirit reveals the plan. The amazing character of each member of the Godhead is Sovereignty, Righteousness, Justice, Love, Omnipotence, Omniscience, Omnipotence, Immutability and Veracity. Any time the bible makes a statement that no man hath seen God at any time the reference is to God the Father or God the Holy Spirit but not to the Son because the Son is the manifest or revealed member of the Godhead. The Son is the declared one, the revealed, and manifest person of the Godhead.

The deity of the Son is not begotten. Only the humanity of the Son is begotten, in the sense that he is true humanity and is united with his deity in a resurrection body forever. He is different from the Father and the Holy Spirit in that he is true humanity… he is different from humanity in that he is God. He is at the same time co-equal with the Father and the Holy Spirit because He has the same essence or attributes. Only God has all of these attributes, and they are the same for each member of the Godhead. No human being, angel, nor Satan possesses these essences, or they would be God. No such being can claim all of these magnificent attributes. It will become clearer when it is realized that the revealed member of the trinity is always the Lord Jesus Christ.

No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him (John 1:18).

And the Lord God formed man out of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils, the breath (soul life) of life; and man became a living soul (Gen. 1:7).

In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins vs 14, who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature vs 15. For by Him were all things created that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were create by Him, and for Him vs 16. For He is before all things and by Him all things consist vs 17 (Col 1: 14-17).

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth (Gen. 1:1).

This is a reference to the Lord Jesus Christ. The Old Testament has two general words for God, 1) Elohim and 2) Jehovah. (Yahweh, YHWH) Elohim ends with (im) and denotes plurality.

The second name Jehovah or Lord is termed the tetragrammaton. Why two names? Because there is one God in essence but three in personality. Elohim is plural because three personalities have identical essences or attributes.

Jehovah refers to the Father and to the Son in the Old Testament, but most of the time this designation refers to the Son. It is also used In Isaiah to designate the Holy Spirit. So, Jehovah is used for all three persons. When you look at them from the standpoint of their essence, they are one in essence but three separate and distinct personalities.

Let’s look at the plural word Elohim. Every time, in the Old Testament, a reference is made to the revealed member of the Godhead, whether called Elohim or Jehovah or Jehovah Elohim (Lord God) it is always and without exception a reference to the Lord Jesus Christ.

There is another way the Lord Jesus Christ is revealed in the Old Testament. He is frequently called the Angel of Jehovah or the Lord. God the Father sends God the Son, and this unique Son is clearly declared in the Old Testament. Notice the wording in (Genesis 16:7-13) (read). The Angel of the Lord or the Lord is referenced four times in these passages. Carefully notice vs 10 wherein there is a multiplication of Hagar’s seed. Who does the multiplying? It is God himself. Hagar knew this wasn’t an angel. This was Jehovah. The reference here is to the Lord Jesus Christ. “No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him” (John 1:18).

Please read (Genesis 22:11-18). To summarize, the Angel of the Lord speaks and tells Abraham He will provide the sacrifice, and that Isaac is only symbolic of what God himself would do not only for Abraham but for all for whom he would later die. Isaac here is a type of Christ who was obedient unto death. Abraham is a type of the Father, who spared not His own son but delivered Him up for us all. The ram is a type of the substitutionary work of Christ who offered himself in our place. Finally, in these verses there is a type of the resurrection of Christ from the dead which would occur hundreds of years later.

Abraham believed that God was able to raise Isaac up even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figurative sense (Hebrews 11:19).

Let’s remember who is speaking here. It is The Angel of the Lord, (Jesus Christ) who speaks to Abraham. Where was he? On a mountain that would later be called Golgotha. At some future day it will overlook a great city that will be called Jerusalem; at this time, it’s out in the wilderness.

Abraham is about to offer his son as a sacrifice, and Jesus Christ spoke to him in (Gen. 22:14). Jehovah Jira (In the Mt of the Lord) then in verse 15 the Angel of the Lord called, vs 16 by myself have I sworn saith the Lord. I have sworn. Who swore? Who promised? The Angel of Jehovah; the angel of Jehovah is Jehovah. The Angel of Jehovah is Jesus Christ.

Read (Genesis 31:11-13). Speaking here is The Angel of God. “But Elohim spoke in a dream.” Jacob tells us about a dream in vs 13. What did the angel of Elohim say to him? “I am the God (Ha Elohim), I am God. The angel of God is God (Gen 31:11-13).

Read (Genesis 48: 15,16). Joseph was blessed abundantly and said in these verses God (Elohim) fed me. The Angel which redeemed me from all evil… the angel here is the Lord Jesus Christ. There is only one redeemer of the human race and that is the Lord Jesus Christ. “Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law being made a curse for us” (Gal 3:13). The angel is called Elohim-The Angel and Angel of Jehovah refers to the revealed member of the Godhead, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Read (Exodus 3:1-7). Here the Angel of the Lord appeared, and this could easily be translated, “Jesus Christ appeared unto him” in a flame of fire!! Who is this? It is Jesus Christ who had spoken to Abraham on Golgotha, many years earlier. It was the very one who hundreds of years later would die there as a member of the human race. It is the God man who sent Moses to deliver the children of Israel from Egypt.

This God man was Jesus Christ, vs 2 “The Angel of the Lord appeared unto him.” vs 4 “And when the Lord said that He turned aside,” it was Jesus Christ in the burning bush, and He is called Jehovah. Elohim called unto him out of the midst of the bush. He is called Jehovah here because He is a distinct person, but in the same verse He is called Elohim. Why? Because He is just as much God as the Father or The Holy Spirit. vs 6 “I AM the God of thy fathers, I am Elohim of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, etc. Who is speaking? vs2 “The Angel of the Lord” this is Jesus Christ. Wherever you find “the Angel of the Lord,” “Angel of the Lord,” “Angel,” “the Angel” all of these designations refer to the Eternal Son of God. vs 7 “The Lord said,” Jehovah, Jesus Christ said, “I have seen thine affliction, etc. Now, read (Acts 7:30) where Stephen was stoned. Why was Stephen stoned? Because, he said the founder of the Jewish race is Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the only person who could take a Gentile (Abraham) and turn him into a Jew, and that is exactly what he did. What did Stephen say in Acts chapter 7. “You have crucified the founder of the Jewish race” … and they killed him!

Stephen gave the whole history of the Jewish nation and with it said, you have crucified the founder of the Jewish race and they took him out and stoned him, for telling the truth. In the middle of his message, we read in vs 30, “and when the 40 years expired there appeared to him in the wilderness of Mt. Sinai an Angel of the Lord.” The Greek language emphasizes this word which shows his exalted character. This is God as he is revealed in the person of Jesus Christ in a flame of fire from the burning bush. The bush was burning, but it was not consumed. This captured the attention of Moses and he stopped, looked, and listened. Then, a voice came from this flaming bush, it was the voice of Kurios, which indicates Deity. The voice of God came to him. This is the Angel of the Lord who is God the Son. Other references are available in Exod. 13:21, 14:19, Judges 6:11-23, 13:9-22. See short references, here.

“And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and THE LORD caused the sea to go back,” Exod.13:21. “And the ANGEL of GOD, which went before the camp of Israel,” Exod. 14:19. An Angel of the Lord sat under an oak in Ophrah in Judges 6:11. In vs 12,20,21 (2 times) vs 22, the angel of the Lord appeared. In Judges 13:9,13,15-21, the Angel of The Lord appeared in these verses, and you may wonder, who is this Angel of The Lord? I am glad you wondered because it is clear the wonderment is answered in the next verse. Who is this Angel of The Lord? “And Manoah said unto his wife, we shall surely die, because we have seen God” vs 22. The Angel of The Lord is God, The Angel of The Lord is the manifest person of the Godhead, the Lord Jesus Christ. The Angel of the Lord is Jehovah – Elohim, Jesus Christ. John 1:18 declares in certain terms that Jesus Christ is the only revealed member of the Godhead, the only begotten God, “no man hath seen God at any time, the Only Begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him. Every time you find an Angel, the Angel, the Angel of Elohim, the Angel of Jehovah, you can put in the words the Lord Jesus Christ, but He is not the Father or the Holy Spirit. The Angel of Jehovah is distinguished from Jehovah when, for clarity, it becomes necessary. Notice Genesis 24:7, the father finds a bride for his son. “The Lord God of Heaven,” this isn’t the son, this is the father, but then it is said, “He Shall send His Angel,” God the Son. Here in the Old Testament God the Son is sent by God the Father. The same issue is addressed in Genesis 24:40. “The Lord will send his Angel,” the Son. More of the same is in Zach. 1:12,13, Exodus 23:20-32-34, I Chron 21:15-18.

In these verses, the Father is called Jehovah or Elohim and the Son is called “The Angel of the Lord.” The Father sent the Son in the Old Testament just as the father sent him in the New Testament. The Angel of Jehovah is the 2nd person of the trinity. There are four general propositions you should understand on the subject of Christophanies. (Actual appearances of Jesus Christ)

1) The second person of the trinity is the visible God of all times in the Old and New Testament. No man has seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared him (John 1:18). God in these last days has spoken to us by his Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, by whom also He made the worlds; who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by himself purge our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high (Hebrews 1:1-3).

No one has ever seen God the Father or God the Holy Spirit. “No man has seen God at any time” (1 John 4:12). “Not that any man has seen the Father, save He which is of God, He hath seen the Father” (John 6:46). “Who only has immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto, who no man has seen nor can see, to whom be honor and power everlasting” (1 Tim. 6:16).

2) The Angel of Jehovah in the Old Testament no longer appears after the Son of God is revealed in the incarnation. This ends the appearance of the Angel of Jehovah.

3) Both the Angel of Jehovah and Jesus Christ are sent by God the Father as declared in both the Old and New Testament.

4) Apart from scripture itself, by the process of logical elimination, neither God the Father nor God the Holy Spirit could be the Angel of Jehovah because they are never visible as the Son is so declared. The Angel of Jehovah is God but this does not refer to God the Father or God the Holy Spirit because they are never visible and they are not the revealers of the Godhead; it is always God the Son.

In addition to the Angel of Jehovah Jesus Christ appears as a man in Genesis 18 and talks with Abraham. In Genesis 32 Jesus Christ appears as a grappler and causes Jacob to limp for the rest of his life. In Joshua 5, Jesus Christ stands before Joshua with a drawn sword and not a turned cheek. In Ezekiel 1: 1-28, Jesus Christ is the man that appears at the river and in Daniel 10 Jesus Christ appears to talk with David about the future of Israel.

Jesus Christ is revealed in many other ways throughout the Old Testament scriptures. Generally speaking, there are four categories of these appearances, and they are called “Inanimate Christology’s” to distinguish them from the Christophanies (Actual appearances in human or angelic form of Jesus Christ).

In inanimate form Jesus Christ appears in various phases of nature.

1) Example (Exod. 3:2), the burning bush. He appears in his shekinah glory in (Exodus 25: 22) and in the cloud and pillar of fire as he led Israel by day and by night (Exod. 13:21) and (I Cor 10: 1,2).

2) Jesus Christ is revealed in typology in (1) The Tabernacle, (2) Levitical offerings, (3) Levitical feasts.

3) Jesus Christ appears in illustration, such as Noah’s Ark. Noah was inside the ark and safe. We as believers are in union with Christ and are eternally secure. The life of Joseph demonstrates many illustrations along this line.

4) Jesus Christ appears in prophecies (Isa. 7:14), which says God is with us. In (Isa. 9:6-7), He is the Father of Eternity and He gives Eternal Life. Isa 53 describes His horrendous death; Isa 11 describes His reign after the second advent.

I trust you will never say that Jesus Christ is only mentioned in the New Testament and the Old Testament only pointed prophetically to His coming, because He is revealed in Genesis and throughout all of the Old Testament. When you read the bible, you are reading a book that reveals and unfurls the unspeakable and unique glory of the amazing son of God, even THE ONLY SAVIOR, The LORD JESUS CHRIST! He is not hidden; He has revealed Himself and that revelation permeates the whole of the infallible word of God.

In order to become a member of His eternal family you must realize who and what He is and will always be… the only hope of humankind who can provide eternal life. “And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Fathers hand. I and my Father are one” (John 10:28-30).

Even now, in this moment in time, look to him, receive HIM as your savior, and most certainly, as the sure and only way to heaven.

But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name (John 1:12).