God does not have a form that is like a human. God is Spirit (John 4:24).
Exodus 33:20 tells us, “You cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live.” As sinful human beings, we are incapable of seeing God in all His glory. His appearance is utterly unimaginable and too glorious to be safely perceived by sinful man. John did not see God. What he had was a heavenly vision.
When God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness,” (Genesis 1:26) He was not making any reference to flesh and blood. “Male and female he created them” (Genesis 1:27). The creation account in Genesis chapter 2 provides the background and basis for human gender distinctions, sexuality, and even marriage. Clearly, this “likeness” has nothing to do with physical bodies.
Because God is spirit He exists without a body. The image of God (Latin: imago dei) refers to the immaterial part of humanity. It sets human beings apart from the animal world, fits them for the dominion God intended them to have over the earth (Genesis 1:28), and enables them to commune with their Maker. It is a likeness mentally, morally, and socially.
Mentally, humanity was created as a rational, volitional agent. In other words, human beings can reason and choose. This is a reflection of God’s intellect and freedom. Anytime someone invents a machine, writes a book, paints a landscape, enjoys a symphony, calculates a sum, or names a pet, he or she is proclaiming the fact that we are made in God’s image.
Morally, humanity was created in righteousness and perfect innocence, a reflection of God’s holiness. God saw all He had made (humanity included) and called it “very good” (Genesis 1:31). Our conscience or “moral compass” is a vestige of that original state. Whenever someone writes a law, recoils from evil, praises good behaviour, or feels guilty, he or she is confirming the fact that we are made in God’s own image.
Socially, humanity was created for fellowship. This reflects God’s triune nature and His love. In Eden, humanity’s primary relationship was with God (Genesis 3:8 implies fellowship with God), and God made the first woman because “it is not good for the man to be alone” (Genesis 2:18). Every time someone marries, makes a friend, hugs a child, or attends church, he or she is demonstrating the fact that we are made in the likeness of God. https://www.gotquestions.org/image-of-God.html
The Bible describes God appearing to people on various occasions. These instances should not be understood as describing exactly what God looks like, but rather as God revealing Himself to us in a way that we can understand. What God looks like is beyond our capability of understanding and describing. God gives glimpses of what He looks like to teach us truths about Himself, not necessarily so that we can have an image of Him in our minds. Two passages that powerfully describe God’s amazing appearance are Ezekiel 1:26-28 and Revelation 1:14-16.
When Jesus is described (Revelation 5:1-7) as a slain Lamb with seven horns and seven eyes are we to conclude that this is literally what Jesus, the Lamb of God, looks like? How could this Lamb literally take hold of a literal scroll? In its mouth? Hardly! This vision is a representation, a symbol, and is not literal.
Let’s go back to Revelation 4:2-3. John was granted a vision of “someone” sitting on a throne, but that “someone” appeared like brilliant and glorious precious gems. John had to use symbolic language to describe that for which human language has no words; i.e., “what appeared like,” “like the appearance,” “he looked like,” etc. The use of words such as “right hand” does not mean God has a physical hand. John did not see God as a human with a human body.
From the visions of the throne in heaven in Revelation 4:2 and 5:1 we conclude that John’s description is not to be taken as a literal description of either God or of the Lamb.
