I assume you know that Jesus IS GOD and that He was the One who became a Man (God the Father and God the Holy Spirit did not). One of the main reasons for Him becoming a true Man (through the miracle of His Incarnation….see Luke 1:26-38; 2:1-21) is given to us in John 1:18 where we are told, “No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.” God is a “spirit” (John 4:24) and thus He is INVISIBLE, but the Son of God became a Man to REVEAL GOD to men. You may recall that scene in the Upper Room (shortly before the crucifixion of Christ) where Philip said to Jesus, “Lord, show us the Father” (John 14:8). Jesus responded (in verse 9) by saying, “Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? HE WHO HAS SEEN ME HAS SEEN THE FATHER; so how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’.” What did Jesus mean by that? He was teaching Philip (and us!) that Jesus, who is also God (see John 1:1 & 14), was displaying God the Father; that is, He was manifesting God’s NATURE (of LOVE and HOLINESS). The Apostle John wrote later in 1 John 1:1-3, “That which was from the beginning, which we have LOOKED UPON, and our hands HAVE HANDLED, concerning the Word of Life—the LIFE was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you THAT ETERNAL LIFE WHICH WAS WITH THE FATHER AND WAS MANIFESTED TO US—that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ.” The Apostles literally saw God in the Person of Jesus Christ (though His outward glory of Deity was veiled) and in their inspired writings they are inviting us to see, by FAITH, God’s nature of LOVE and LIGHT (see 1 John 1:5 and 4:7-8).

Now the question remains, “Shall we be able to see God the Father (and the Holy Spirit) with our physical eyes when we get to heaven?” Some would say “yes,” for we read in Matthew 5:8, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” But that verse is speaking of the time when Jesus reigns in His Millennial Kingdom here on earth and thus BELIEVERS (who are the “pure in heart”…see 1 Peter 1:22-23) will see “God the Father by Jesus revealing Him to them” (as the Apostles did in their day). Or that verse could also be speaking of believers in heaven when we will see Jesus “face to face” (1 Corinthians 13:12 with 1 John 3:2). Jesus said in His prayer to the Father in John 17:24, “Father, I desire that they also whom You have gave Me may be with Me where I am, THAT THEY MAY BEHOLD MY GLORY which You have given Me: for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.” At the time we will indeed SEE HIS GLORY, the “outward glory of Deity” as Peter, James, and John did on the Mount of Transfiguration (Matthew 17:1-2) and John saw in his vision in Revelation 1:12-18. Yet He is still a Man in the glory and thus John could say in Revelation 1:13 that he saw “One like the Son of Man.” He is and always will be the God-Man, who will always be revealing God to men. This is why He is called “The Word” because He alone in the Trinity is the “Revealer of God.”

In closing, I am not speaking dogmatically by implying we will never see God the Father or God the Holy Spirit, but we only read that we will “behold the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ” so it is best not to go beyond Scripture. You may recall when Moses was on Mount Sinai and he said to God, “Please, show me Your glory” (Exodus 33:18). God responded with these words, “You cannot see My face; for no man shall see Me, and live” (verse 20). Those words remind me of 1 Timothy 6:16 which says, “Who alone has immortality, dwelling unapproachable light, whom NO MAN HAS SEEN OR CAN SEE, to whom be honor and everlasting power. Amen.” Again, these words seem to teach us that God has chosen to reveal Himself to men in the Person of Jesus Christ, yet we will get glimpses of His glory when we “behold the glory of Jesus Christ, the God-Man” (as we saw in John 17:24).  (DO)  (715.5)