Orthodox Christians believe in
God the Father, Who is without beginning, indescribable,
incomprehensible, Who is beyond every created essence, Whose essence is
known only to Himself, to His Son and the Holy Spirit; as it says in the
Holy Scriptures, upon Him even the Seraphim dare not gaze.
Orthodox Christians believe
and confess that God the Father never became the likeness of any
material form nor was He ever incarnate. In the theophanies
(appearances of God) of the Old Testament, as our Holy Fathers bear
witness, it was not God the Father Who appeared, but rather it was
always our Savior, the Second Person of the Holy Trinity (i.e., the Word
or Logos, the Angel of the Lord, the Lord God of Sabaoth, the Angel of
Great Counsel, the Ancient of Days) Who revealed Himself to the prophets
and seers of the Old Testament.
Likewise, in the New
Testament, God the Father never appeared but bore witness to His Son on
several occasions solely by a voice that was heard from Heaven. It is
for this reason that our Saviour said,
"No man
hath seen God at any time; the Only-begotten Son, Who is in the
bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him," (John 01:18) and "Not
that any man hath seen the Father, save He Who is of God, He hath
seen the Father" (John 6:46).
In addition, Acts Four,
Five and Six of the Seventh Ecumenical Council state that the Holy
Trinity cannot be portrayed iconographically since He is without from
and invisible. Therefore, God the Father is not depicted in the holy
icons.
Orthodox believe that He is
the cause of all things as well as the end purpose of all things. From
Him all visible and invisible creatures have their beginning and there
was a time when they did not exist. He created the universe out of
absolutely nothing. The earth too had a beginning and man was created by
God's love.
The creation of man and of
the universe was not out of necessity. Creation is the work of the free
and unconditional will of the Creator. If He had so wished, He need not
have created us; the absence of creation would not have been a privation
for Him. The creature's love is not one which gives Him satisfaction.
God has no need to be satisfied. He needs nothing.
God's love cannot be
compared to human love, even as His other attributes such as paternity,
justice, goodness cannot be compared to their human counterparts. God's
love is a love which constitutes a mystery unfathomable to man's reason
or intellect. God has "no emotions" which might create
passion, suffering, need or necessity in Him. Nevertheless, although the
nature of divine love remains incomprehensible and inexplicable to human
reason, this love is real and genuine and Orthodox Christians confess,
in agreement with Scripture, that God is love.
