The Bible does not give a complete, definitive description of what God looks like. However, through various passages and stories, we can glean some insight into how God has chosen to reveal Himself visually to people at times. It’s important to remember that God is spirit (John 4:24), and therefore does not have a physical body in the way humans do. However, He is able to take on visible form to communicate with people.
God Appears in Human Form
There are several instances in the Old Testament where God appears in human form, though the Bible is clear these were not actually God incarnate, but rather God manifesting Himself visually through a physical, human-like form. For example, in Genesis 18, Abraham receives three visitors who are actually the Lord appearing as men. Later, two angels visited Lot in Sodom appearing as human men (Genesis 19:1). Another manifestation of God was the Angel of the Lord – note the distinction between angel and Angel – who was a human-like messenger, believed by many scholars to be God Himself in human form. The Angel of the Lord appeared to Hagar (Genesis 16), Abraham (Genesis 22), Moses (Exodus 3), Gideon (Judges 6), and Samson’s parents (Judges 13).
When God appeared in human-like form in the Old Testament, it was not actually God taking on human flesh and nature. Rather, it was God manifesting Himself in a way people could partially comprehend. These visible manifestations served to communicate God’s messages and carry out His works on earth. They gave people a glimpse of God embodied in a form they could see and understand. Though not the fulness of God’s actual heavenly appearance and glory, it did reveal God’s concern to meet people in ways they could grasp.
God Appears in Fiery, Heavenly Glory
In contrast to human form, God has also revealed Himself in blazing heavenly glory and flaming fire. Exodus 24:17 describes the glory of the Lord appearing on Mount Sinai like “a consuming fire.” And Exodus 33:20-23 indicates no one can see God’s face in all His glory and live. The fulness of God’s true heavenly appearance seems to be so magnificent, bright, and powerful that humans in their earthly state simply cannot handle it. Ezekiel 1, Daniel 7, and Revelation 1 all describe the throne room of heaven and the glory surrounding God’s throne in vivid detail – lightning, flaming fire, smoke, brilliant light, and rainbows are common themes across these accounts. God’s brightness is so overwhelming, the apostle John fell down as though dead when he saw Christ in His glory (Revelation 1:17).
So in the Bible, we see God reveal Himself on a spectrum – from simple human-like forms all the way to blazing heavenly glory. This gives us a picture of God accommodating His appearances to our limited human capacity to encounter His true essence and full glory.
God Appears in Natural Elements
In addition to human-like and heavenly glory, God sometimes manifests His presence through natural elements of creation. Exodus 13 describes God appearing as a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. When God descended on Mount Sinai, thick clouds, lightning, thunder, and a very loud trumpet blast accompanied His presence (Exodus 19). And Psalm 18 says “He bowed the heavens and came down, thick darkness under his feet. He rode on a cherub and flew; he came swiftly on the wings of the wind.” Here we see God revealing Himself through dramatic displays in nature – clouds, fire, wind, thunder, and darkness.
Through these manifestations, God demonstrated His lordship over all creation. Natural elements like wind and fire were subject to Him. God used them to make His presence known, show His power and glory, and point people to the mighty Creator behind it all. His control over creation revealed His divine identity as the One True God.
The Incarnation Reveals God’s Full Glory
All of the above examples gave glimpses, snapshots and shadows of what God is like. But the clearest picture we have of God came through Jesus Christ. Hebrews 1 calls Jesus “the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature.”
When the eternal Son of God took on human flesh as Jesus of Nazareth, the one true God was revealed fully. As Jesus said “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father” (John 14:9). His life demonstrated God’s character – His love, mercy, wisdom, power, justice, and more. His miracles revealed God’s dominion over creation. And His death and resurrection displayed God’s redemptive plan. Jesus was God in human form – the perfect visible image of the invisible God (Colossians 1:15).
The incarnation is the pinnacle of God revealing Himself visually to humankind. God came down and dwelt among us as one of us, through Christ. As Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 4:6 “For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” We now see the brightness of God’s glory revealed fully through the face and person of Jesus. When we look at Jesus, we see God.
Glimpses of God’s Appearance Yet to Come
Though Christ has come and revealed God in the flesh, the Bible also gives us a few glimpses of God’s appearance that is yet to come. Revelation 19 describes heaven opening up and Christ coming back on a white horse as “King of kings and Lord of lords” wearing many crowns. Here we get a small preview of the majesty and glory of God’s appearance when Christ returns. 1 John 3:2 tells us “when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.” This indicates believers will one day see Christ in His glory and actually become like Him! What we know now from Scripture gives us only a foretaste of God’s actual appearance and our encounter with Him face to face. As Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 13:12, right now we see only a dim reflection, but then we will see face to face. The glimpses of God’s appearance in Scripture point us toward this coming day of seeing God in full.
God Is Spirit
Yet in all these descriptions – human-like forms, heavenly glory, natural elements, and glimpses of the coming Christ – we must remember that God’s true essence is spirit. He does not have a physical body limited to one place as humans do. John 4:24 tells us “God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” Though God can take on visible forms to communicate with us, He is not confined to a physical body. Rather, God is an eternal, omnipresent Spirit. As Jesus said, “a spirit does not have flesh and bones” (Luke 24:39). God is set apart from His creation and exists wholly on a spiritual plane.
So ultimately, the Bible does not give us an exhaustive answer to the question “what does God look like?” We have descriptions of how God has chosen to reveal Himself visually to us at times. These forms He takes on demonstrate His glory, power, control over creation, and ability to limit His spiritual essence into physical manifestations. But we do not have full knowledge of God’s eternal appearance and essence – we cannot completely comprehend or imagine the full splendor and magnitude of the eternal, omnipotent, omniscient Spirit that is God. As Isaiah wrote, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord” (Isaiah 55:8). We see glimpses now, but one day we will see fully. Until then, we walk by faith, not sight (2 Corinthians 5:7).