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While some theologians would debate this issue because "God is Spirit" (John 4:24) the Bible actually does indicate that the Father has a "celestial body" (1 Corinthians 15:40).

Take heed that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that in heaven their angels always see the face of My Father who is in heaven. (Mattityahu/Matthew 18:10)

Here we see that if the angels are real, and heaven is real, and the Father is real, than it stands to reason that Yeshua was speaking of God's literal face.

The Bible speaks of God using bodily metaphors, "His right hand spans the heavens" and speaks of the "heart of God".  This causes some believers to conclude that all references to God's celestial body must be mere literary devices.  

However, King Herod "stretched out his hand to harass some from the church." (Acts 12:1) and Peter/Kefa was "delivered from the hand of Herod" (v11). While the Bible frequently uses body parts as literary devices, this does not mean that Herod could not possibly have possessed an actual physical hand. Likewise, using such literary devices with God the Father does not mean that He can not possess a celestial form in heaven.

Yeshua said, "And the Father Himself, who sent Me, has testified of Me. You have neither heard His voice at any time, nor seen His form." (Yochanon/John 5:37). This shows that the Father has a "form" in heaven which is distinct from the physical person of Messiah.

Another verse which gives strong evidence that God the Father has both a celestial body and a Spirit inside of it, (which is His omniscient mind that goes everywhere) is 1 Corinthians 2:11: "For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God."

Other passages that speak of God the Father's literal, 'real time' presence in heaven prior to the Lord's ascension in Acts 1 are 2 Kings 22:19-23 and Iyov/Job 1:6.

P.S. -- Also supporting a literal presence of the Father in heaven are Luke 1:19 (Gabriel would not have spoken highly of something equally true of everybody) and Revelation 8:2.  

Esther 1:14 may be a picture of heaven (in type and shadow) when compared to Revelation 8:2.

Yes.....Jesus..

Prophet,

I agree with you on this one.  Yeshua is the "express image of the invisible God."  Of course, God is invisible to mankind (in Exodus no man may see God's FACE and live) and yet He is visible to the angels who can see his face (Matthew 18:10, Luke 1:19, Job 1:6).

"Whither shall I go from thy SPIRIT".  The Spirit is apparently the omnipresent portion, and it lives inside of God like our spirit lives in us (1 Corinthians 2:11).

When he appears, we will be "as the angels" in the resurrection (parable of woman with 7 husbands).  This means we will be made like Him, able to fellowship again like the Garden of Eden but not until that time. 1 John 3, this is why God appeared in flesh so when he appears again we can be made like Him and see Him face to face.

So while Yeshua was God's image on earth, who was God's image in heaven while the Lord was down here?  Yeshua said the angels ALWAYS see God's face in heaven, sometimes translated "continually".

David Bernard states in the first chapter of "Oneness of God" that God might have had two forms, one image in heaven for the angels, and one image in flesh for mankind, at the SAME TIME.  (Go check it if you don't believe me).

Personally, give that "doubly manifested" God an omnipresent Spirit, and I don't see the difference between that and the Trinity.  I don't even know why David Bernard complains about the Trinity after writing that, actually!

One God manifested in three forms at the same time, such as at the Lord's baptism.  They clearly speak to each other (Psalm 110:1) and are reckoned separately (1 Corinthians 8:6).

Go read that David Bernard quote and get back to me!

God is inside Jesus....which is why when Jesus said "If ye had known me you should have know the Father and now see Him"

No one has seen an angel either except when the manifest themselves in our likeness...Spirit can see Spirit....flesh can see flesh...
Angels see God and we see God in Jesus because He is God in the flesh.
OT teaches One God...NT teaches One God.....Greek philosophers most times not even using scriptue put forth the trinity doctine.
   David Barnard doesn't complain about trintiy doctrine just states it is false.....

God was manifest in flesh...seen of angels...justified in the Spirit
dwelt among men....preache unto the gentiles....recieved up into Glory...

Who recieved Him?....His glory which He laid down when He came to earth.
How is it you know not the Father,if you had known me ye should have known the Father and now see Him.

prophet,

That was very interesting but does not address the issue at hand.  No Christian denomination, whether Modalist, Trinitarian, Adoptionist, or Biblical Unitarian deny that Yeshua was the image, or exact representation, of God. It clarifies nothing between those views to simply repeat a feature common to all of them.

I specifically asked about the visible presence of the Father in heaven (Matthew 18:10, Luke 1:19, Revelation 8:2) while, at the same time, Yeshua was visible in human flesh on the earth.

David Bernard comments on this in Chapter 2 of "The Oneness of God", specifically saying God could have manifested in two persons at the same time:




Since the Bible shows these "simultaneous" appearances of God in different forms interact with each other (Psalm 110:1), David Bernard's theory is not much different than Orthodox Christianity and the Trinity -- except he denies that these forms or manifestations of God interact with each other directly.  (He is clearly wrong as the Bible endlessly shows).