The Attributes of God: Incorporeality

Incorporeality is a long word for a simple thing: having no body. Jesus states it directly when he says that God is spirit. Scripture also repeatedly calls God invisible - the one no eye has seen.
Now hold that next to something this series has already said: God does appear in human form. He walks, he stands, he eats a meal with Abraham. Both things are true, and they do not collide. When God takes a human form, that form is something he takes on in order to be met - it is not what he is underneath.
There is a real distinction here that is easy to miss. Human beings and angels have an immaterial side to them. But we are not exclusively immaterial. Our bodies are part of what we are; strip the body away and something is missing. That is not true of God. He is not a spirit who happens to lack a body. Having no body is simply his nature.
So when you read of God appearing, you are reading about God making himself available - not about God finally showing you his real shape.
Scripture links:
- John 4:24 - Jesus says God is spirit.
- 1 Timothy 1:17 - to the King eternal, immortal, invisible.
- John 1:18 - no one has ever seen God.
He appears in a form. He is not that form.