The Face of God: Presence Fulfilled in Christ

The Face of God: Presence Fulfilled in Christ


One of the most poetic and powerful biblical images is the face of God. It evokes closeness, intimacy, and presence. It is revealed, not in a distant heaven, but among us—within us—as the full presence of God has come to dwell with His people since the consummation of the age in 70 AD.


The Face of God as His Presence


In Exodus 33:14, the Douay-Rheims Bible, the Catholic Public Domain Version, and even Robert Young's and Smith's literal translations preserve a profound truth. God says:


"My face shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest."


This face is not a literal face, of course, but a metaphor for His presence—His covenantal nearness. In the Hebrew, pānîm (face) is often used interchangeably with presence, especially when speaking of divine proximity.


This presence was once mediated. Even Moses, as great as he was, had to be shielded from the fullness of God’s glory. Yet in Numbers 12:8, God says of Moses:


"With him I speak mouth to mouth, even apparently, and not in dark speeches; and the similitude of the LORD shall he behold."


Even then, it was still a similitude, a shadow. Moses got closer than anyone else under the old covenant, but he still did not see the full unveiled face of God. God spoke “without riddles,” yet through layers—through angels, through types, through veils.


Face of the Deep, Face of the Ground


The Hebrew Bible uses “face” in ways that reflect more than mere appearance. The face of the ground (Gen. 4:14) or face of the deep (Gen. 1:2) reflects direct engagement with a realm or element. So when Scripture says we now live face to face with God (1 Cor. 13:12), it doesn't speak of eyeballs looking into eyeballs. It speaks of unveiled relational fullness, of nothing standing between us and His presence. This is what the New Covenant, fully consummated, brought to light.


The Challenge of John 1:18 and 1 Timothy 6:16


Some might object using John 1:18 (KJV):

"No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him."


And 1 Timothy 6:16:

"Who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see."


These passages affirm that God in His transcendent essence—apart from covenantal revelation—is unknowable and invisible. But that’s not the end of the story. The Son has "declared" Him, that is, made Him known, not in metaphysical terms, but in covenantal presence. Jesus brought the face of God into human history, veiled in flesh, and through His completed redemptive work, that face is now fully accessible in the Spirit.


The statement in 1 Timothy reflects God's nature outside of mediation. But what Christ brought is not an unmediated metaphysical vision, but a covenantal indwelling of God’s presence. The veil is removed. The age of shadows is over. The body of Christ is now the living temple, and His face—His presence—is in and among us.


Speaking through Angels


Throughout Scripture, God’s face was often seen through messengers—angels. When He sent His angel to Moses, to Jacob, to the prophets, it was His presence in mediated form. Even the burning bush, or the commander of the Lord’s army (Josh. 5), revealed that God’s face could be made known through His agents.


This aligns with how He speaks to us today: through the Spirit, through one another, and through the Scriptures—now understood without riddles, because the mystery has been revealed (Col. 1:26).


Living Face to Face Today


We live in a post-Parousia world where God’s face is no longer hidden. There is no temple veil. There is no more waiting for glory. We behold His face now—not in types and shadows, but in the full light of the New Covenant.


As Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 3:18:

"But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image…"


This is not a future hope, but a present reality. His face is here. His presence is with us. Not in mystery, but in manifest union.


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