For those who deny the deity of Jesus Christ how do you explain Isaiah seeing Christ/Messiah with his physical eyes at Isaiah 6:1?
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As a non-trinitarian, I will try to explain this. The question actually contains much truth, but is framed in a provocative manner as if the truth should not be thought of as truth.
The following Biblical truths are important:
- God is invisible. (1 Timothy 1:17; Colossians 1:15)
- No one has seen God at any time. (John 1:18; 1 John 4:12; John 5:37)
- No one has heard God's voice at any time. (John 5:37)
- The Father is the only true God. (John 17:3; John 20:17; 1 Corinthians 8:6; John 4:21-24; etc.)
It follows that any time anyone has ever seen or heard "God," it was not God the Father--the only true "God."
In the Hebrew language, the word "elohim," usually translated as God or gods, could also mean, and is translated as, "angels" and "judges" and can apply to people. So in a technical sense, many people have seen "elohim". Furthermore, Jesus said that he came in his Father's name (see John 5:43), so even if we assume that "YHWH" is the Father's name, if someone has seen a being with this name, it can be Jesus, not the Father: In fact, not just "can" be, but it "must" be.
So, two additional points are important to understand:
- "Elohim" is not the same as "God" in English.
- "YHWH" can be Jesus, and not just God the Father.
As a non-trinitarian, I am not an Arian. Both Arius and Athanasius were incorrect in their beliefs. Arius believed Jesus was created and had not previously existed. In this, he was wrong.
Jesus, the image of God--in other words, God's representation of Himself to His creation, is also called "the Son of God," and he existed well before the creation of our Earth. As John 3:16 eloquently states of God (the Father), "he gave his only begotten son." If the Bible says God gave His son, we know that He had a son to give. That son existed before being thus given.
Jesus stated in John 5:37 that no one had ever heard God's voice at any time. This would necessarily include the Old Testament times. It follows, then, that at Mount Sinai, at the burning bush, in the Garden of Eden . . . at any time, it was Jesus' own voice speaking to the people. He is called "the Word of God" for a reason. He speaks God's words, not his own--but that very point is important. He himself cannot be God.
Jesus is a separate being from the Father, who is "the only true God." This is not a Trinity, and it is not a Binity. Jesus is not God. However, Jesus is like God, as God's representative. According to the dictionary definitions of words like "divine", Jesus is divine.
Human language may come short of being able to properly explain some of these mysteries such as Jesus' nature. But the Bible tells us what is essential for us to know. And it tells us these truths in clear language. The language makes certain that Jesus is God's Son, not God.
Nothing in the Bible says no one has seen nor heard God's Son at any time. Far from it--the Bible instructs us that all we have ever learned about God has been through His Son.
The fact is this: Isaiah saw Jesus, not God (the Father).
For reference:
The Divinity of Jesus Christ (PDF Booklet)
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