BC 3.1

3.1. The Creation of All Things

We believe that the Father, when it seemed good to him, created heaven and earth and all other creatures from nothing, by the Word- that is to say, by the Son. God has given all creatures their being, form, and appearance and their various functions for serving their Creator. Even now God also sustains and governs them all, according to his eternal providence and by his infinite power, that they may serve humanity, in order that humanity may serve God. God has also created the angels good, that they might be messengers of God and serve the elect. Some of them have fallen from the excellence in which God created them into eternal perdition; and the others have persisted and remained in their original state, by the grace of God. The devils and evil spirits are so corrupt that they are enemies of God and of everything good. They lie in wait for the church and every member of it like thieves, with all their power, to destroy and spoil everything by their deceptions. So then, by their own wickedness they are condemned to everlasting damnation, daily awaiting their torments. For that reason we detest the error of the Sadducees, who deny that there are spirits and angels, and also the error of the Manicheans, who say that the devils originated by themselves, being evil by nature, without having been corrupted.

Proof texts

• Gen. 1:1 — [1] In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.
• Gen. 2:3 — [3] So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation.
• Isa. 40:26 — [26] Lift up your eyes on high and see: who created these? He who brings out their host by number, calling them all by name; by the greatness of his might and because he is strong in power, not one is missing.
• Jer. 32:17 — [17] ‘Ah, Lord GOD! It is you who have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and by your outstretched arm! Nothing is too hard for you.
• Col. 1:15-16 — [15] He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. [16] For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities — all things were created through him and for him.
• 1 Tim. 4:3 — [3] who forbid marriage and require abstinence from foods that God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth.
• Heb. 11:3 — [3] By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.
• Rev. 4:11 — [11] “Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.”
• Ps. 103:20-21 — [20] Bless the LORD, O you his angels, you mighty ones who do his word, obeying the voice of his word! [21] Bless the LORD, all his hosts, his ministers, who do his will!
• Matt. 4:11 — [11] Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him.
• Heb. 1:14 — [14] Are they not all ministering spirits sent out to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation?
• John 8:44 — [44] You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.
• 2 Pet. 2:4 — [4] For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to chains of gloomy darkness to be kept until the judgment;
• Jude 6 — [6] And the angels who did not stay within their own position of authority, but left their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgment of the great day —
• Gen. 3:1-5 — [1] Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” [2] And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, [3] but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’” [4] But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. [5] For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
• 1 Pet. 5:8 — [8] Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.
• Eph. 6:12 — [12] For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.
• Rev. 12:4, 13-17 — [4] His tail swept down a third of the stars of heaven and cast them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she bore her child he might devour it. [13] And when the dragon saw that he had been thrown down to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child. [14] But the woman was given the two wings of the great eagle so that she might fly from the serpent into the wilderness, to the place where she is to be nourished for a time, and times, and half a time. [15] The serpent poured water like a river out of his mouth after the woman, to sweep her away with a flood. [16] But the earth came to the help of the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed the river that the dragon had poured from his mouth. [17] Then the dragon became furious with the woman and went off to make war on the rest of her offspring, on those who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus. And he stood on the sand of the sea.
• Rev. 20:7-9 — [7] And when the thousand years are ended, Satan will be released from his prison [8] and will come out to deceive the nations that are at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them for battle; their number is like the sand of the sea. [9] And they marched up over the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city, but fire came down from heaven and consumed them,
• Matt. 8:29 — [29] And behold, they cried out, “What have you to do with us, O Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?”
• Matt. 25:41 — [41] “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.
• Rev. 20:10 — [10] and the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.
• Acts 23:8 — [8] For the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, nor angel, nor spirit, but the Pharisees acknowledge them all.

For discussion

1. The Assembly cited Gen. 1:1 in support of this answer. Read it in context — how does it bear on what is claimed here?
2. 23 passages are cited here. Which does the most work, and is anything claimed that the proofs do not obviously carry?
3. HC Q26 treats the same ground. What does it add, and why might it put things differently?
4. HC Q27 treats the same ground. What does it add, and why might it put things differently?

Read alongside

HC Q26 · HC Q27 · HC Q28