No one has ever seen God,
not so much as a glimpse.
    This one-of-a-kind God-Expression,
who exists at the very heart of the Father,
has made him plain as day

 (John 1: 18 The Message).

To see the Son is to see the Father.  If we try to look at the Father without looking through the Son we are no longer looking at the Father.  We are simply projecting our own image of the divine being onto the one we are calling Father.

Our imaginary “divine being” is simply the first cause that was needed to get everything started.  The intelligent designer required to account for purpose and order in the world.  A mere concept – abstract, remote and anonymous in splendid isolation.  Our imaginary “divine being” is also likely to be the God of religion whose “otherness” fills people with dread.  The Supreme Judge whose prime concern is that everyone be declared legally right in his court of law.  The contract God who says do this right and only then will I bless. 

We need to stress over and over again that we only see who the Father really is when we keep our eyes on his Son!  Then we see the Father drawing near to relate rather than remote.  We see him among us in lowliness rather than exalted in splendid isolation.  We see him as love wanting to relate rather than the legal God who just wants everything to be declared upright.

Seeing the Father through his Son we are drawn into love relationship with him as dearly loved children with Jesus, the beloved Son.  And by the Spirit of the Son we cry, Abba Father!