Context
In John 1, the Gospel opens by identifying Jesus as the eternal Word through whom all things were made and who became flesh. The chapter establishes from the start that everything to follow must be read in light of Christ's divine identity, revelation, and saving mission.
Common Interpretations
The Father is never seen. He dwells in unapproachable light. No one has seen Him or can see Him. And yet the Old Testament is full of people seeing God — encountering Him visibly, physically, face to face. The resolution is precise: every visible appearance of God in the Old Testament is the second person of the Trinity — the eternal Son, appearing in human-like form before the Incarnation. He is the one who makes the invisible God visible and knowable. This is exactly what John 1:18 says: no one has seen God, but the Son has made Him known. He has been making Him known since the beginning. This is also why Jesus can say in John 8:58: "Before Abraham was, I AM." He was not merely aware of Abraham from a distance. He had appeared to him. He had spoken with him. He had eaten with him (Genesis 18). He was there.
Current Position
This site's current position is that John 1:18 provides the New Testament key for understanding visible appearances of God in the Old Testament. If no one has seen the Father, then the visible divine encounters in earlier Scripture must be the Son making Him known. That is why this passage functions as an anchor text for the Angel-of-the-LORD study. It supplies the theological explanation for why people can truly see God in the Old Testament without having seen the Father.