Page 138 - Prayer Book

138
Prayer B o ok
vine hypostatic Love of God the Father. Saint Maximus the
Confessor points out, “God the Father, moved timelessly
and lovingly, proceeded into the distinction of Hypostases.”
In other words, God the Father actualized His exist-
ence lovingly, in the manner of a Person, bringing into ex-
istence other “Persons,” the Son and the Spirit, two Persons
whom He loves uniquely as “Persons.” Moreover, these two
“Persons” also love the Father and one another as “Per-
sons,” that is, with unique, personal Love.
The Father, therefore, exists as Love! The being of God
is identical with Love. “Being” and “Love” are one and the
same! God does not exist first as an individual and then
begin to love, but He exists by loving. He actualizes His
being through interpersonal Love. He exists by having the
Son and the Spirit as Hypostases of His divine nature: “God
is love” (1 Jn 4:8)! We might say that simultaneously, God
exists and exists as Love, as Father.
The Cappadocian Fathers also emphasize that the Fa-
ther exists as Father, as Love, freely! Nothing and no one
forced Him or compelled Him to exist as Love, as Father!
The Father is self-causative, a fully willing and absolute
self-giving, a complete self-offering, an ultimate, bound-
less, self-willed Supreme Love! And as we will see later, it
was with this immeasurable, incomprehensible Supreme
Love that God also created the world! With this ultimate
Love, God created and loved humanity, and along with
humanity, all of creation!
Additionally, the Cappadocian Fathers stress that the
Father has always been Father, always existed as Love, al-
ways existed with the Son and the Spirit! He did not first