Will We See The Trinity in Heaven?

The Question of Seeing the Trinity in Heaven

So every now and then I get a lot of questions on the doctrine of the Trinity, and one of the questions that comes forth sometimes is whether or not we're going to be able to see the entirety of the Trinity when we go to Heaven.

And the answer is no, we're not going to be able to do that. I'll just appeal to Scripture. Lay the case out according to what the Word of God says. Now basically in 1 Timothy 6 .16 it says this, speaking of God the Father, it says,.

So we know that the Bible very clearly, Paul the Apostle here is telling us we cannot see God the Father. He dwells in unapproachable light whom no man has seen nor can see. Now I've got an article on Karma about this.

Can we see God, see the Trinity? And just look it up, you can see it behind me on the screen there. But no, we can't. We can see the person of Jesus Christ. Now some people will say, well wait a minute, Matt, what about them seeing God in the Old Testament?

The Old Testament Appearances of God and the Pre-Incarnate Christ

Because they did see Him. Well, what about that? Well, it's real simple. They were not seeing the person of the Father, they were seeing the pre-incarnate Christ. Now He appears in the Old Testament.

God does in Genesis 17 .1, 18 .1, in Exodus 6 .2 and 3, Exodus 24 .9 -11, also Numbers 12 .6 -8. These are various verses where God appears. What's interesting is that Jesus said in John 6 .46, He said, Not that any man has seen the Father except the one who is from God.

He has seen the Father. He's speaking of Himself. So in John 6 .46, Jesus is clearly telling us that the Father has not been seen except the one, that's talking about Himself, He has seen the Father. And again, in 1 Timothy 6 .16, Paul says that the Father dwells in unapproachable light whom no man has seen nor can see.

Seeing Jesus Christ and Fellowship with the Son

So we will not be able to see the Trinity. What we will be able to see, for sure, is the person of Jesus Christ. Now it's worth mentioning here in Hebrews 1 .3, a really important verse, and He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature and upholds all things by the word of His power.

When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high. So this is talking about Jesus, who is the exact representation of His nature, the nature of God in human form.

And furthermore, 1 Corinthians 1 .9 is important because it says that God is faithful through whom we are called into fellowship with His Son, Christ Jesus. So that's what we're to do, is we're to have fellowship with Jesus.

We perceive God through the person and work of Jesus. So when we get to heaven, we won't be seeing God the Father, we will be seeing, at the very least, God the Son. We will be able to have fellowship with Him and just enjoy His company forever.

The Holy Spirit's Manifestations and the Limits of What Scripture Says

Now one more question here. What about the Holy Spirit? Will we be able to see the Holy Spirit in heaven? It doesn't seem to be, well, it may or may not. When we look at the manifestation of the Holy Spirit, particularly in the New Testament, we see at the baptism of Jesus in Matthew 3 .16 that He descended as a dove.

And then He appears as tongues of fire in Acts 2 .3. Well, is that a manifestation? It's kind of a representation of the Holy Spirit. So perhaps we might be seeing the Holy Spirit in manifestations such as those kinds of things in heaven.

I don't know. The Bible doesn't say either way. But it does say, for sure, that the Father, speaking of the Father in 1 Timothy 6 .16, He dwells in unapproachable light whom no man has seen nor can see.

So we will not be seeing God the Father. So that means that we will not see the Trinity in heaven. What we will be doing is having fellowship with the Lord Jesus Christ. The Father, again, dwells in unapproachable light whom no man has seen nor can see.

Stephen's Vision of the Glory of God

One final thought that just came to mind, it's not in the article, but in Acts 7 .55 -60 it talks about Stephen being stoned and he had a vision of God and he said he saw Him in his vision. Well, actually, it doesn't say that.

It says he saw the glory of God. He wasn't seeing God in the person of the Father and Jesus standing at the right hand, but he was seeing the glory of God and Jesus at the right hand. So it's consistent in Scripture that the Father is not seen.

We won't be able to see Him in heaven, so therefore we will not be able to see the totality of the Trinity in heaven, but we will be able to have fellowship with the Lord Jesus Christ forever. Amen and amen to that.