Today's Favorite Verse: 1 John 4:12
"No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us."
Well that's not right. There have been several accounts of prophets seeing God. Even John himself saw God as mentioned in the book of Revelations. Jesus himself said the Father and Him would come to us.
"Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him."
(John 14:23)
Paul saw Him.
"And said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God."
(Acts 7:56)
Joseph Smith saw both the Father and the Son.
"It no sooner appeared than I found myself delivered from the enemy which held me bound. When the light rested upon me I saw two Personages, whose brightness and glory defy all description, standing above me in the air. One of them spake unto me, calling me by name and said, pointing to the other—This is My Beloved Son. Hear Him!"
(Joseph Smith-History 1:17)
The Joseph Smith Translation clarifies this.
"No man hath seen God at any time, except them who believe. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us."
(JST 1 John 4:12)
The word "see" can have different meanings, which is explained well here.
President Joseph Fielding Smith (1876–1972) explained: “All revelation since the fall has come through Jesus Christ, who is the Jehovah of the Old Testament. In all of the scriptures, where God is mentioned and where he has appeared, it was Jehovah who talked with Abraham, with Noah, Enoch, Moses and all the prophets. … The Father has never dealt with man directly and personally since the fall, and he has never appeared except to introduce and bear record of the Son” The scriptures record a number of occasions when the Father has introduced Jesus Christ: Matthew 3:17; 17:5; 3 Nephi 11:6–7; D&C 76:23; Joseph Smith—History 1:17.
John 1:18 can have another meaning as well. In the scriptures, particularly the Gospel of John, the word see can sometimes mean “perceive with our minds” or “understand.” In that light, John 1:18 can be understood to mean that men have not fully “seen” or understood God. Therefore, Jesus Christ came as God’s messenger to “declare” or reveal to men what God the Father is like. This is a theme throughout the Gospel of John.
(New Testament Student Manual, "Chapter 21: John 1)
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