I. What is being confessed in this article?⤒🔗

1. When he himself willed it, the Father made all that is out of nothing. He did so by speaking, through his Word. We can also say (which is actually the same thing) that: he did so through his Son.
2. God gave each creature its own nature, shape and appropriate function to serve its Creator.
   And he still carefully upholds everything by his infinite power. He does this for the sake of man, but his purpose in this providential care for man is that man will serve his God.
3. He also created the angels good. They were to be his messengers and, as such, help his chosen people. Some of those angels have lost their original exalted position. They are lost forever. The others, by God’s grace, have persevered in their position from the beginning.
   The devils are so evil and depraved that they are enemies of God and therefore of everything good. Like wicked murderers, they lie in wait to ruin the church and every member of it. Their goal is to destroy everything through deceit. By their own wickedness they are condemned to eternal torment. They expect it to happen any day.
4. We abhor the error of the Sadducees, who deny that there are angels, as well as the wrong teaching of the Manichees, who maintain that the devils have always existed and have always been wicked by their own nature.

II. How creation came about←⤒🔗

1. God created all that exists "ex-nihilo" — out of nothing. The Roman Catholic church believed that too, so at the time when this confession was written it was not a point of contention. This doctrine was especially attacked in the nineteenth century when the theories of evolution were propagated. These assume that all life evolved gradually or in leaps and bounds from a primordial cell.
2. The Bible does not literally say that God made everything "out of nothing." Even if it does not state this literally, as a matter of fact the Scriptures are as clear as the sun about this: “For he spoke, and it came to be; he commanded, and it stood firm” (Psalm 33:9). See also Psalm 148:5; Isaiah 48:13; and Genesis 1:3, 6, 9, 11, 14, 20. Seen in this light, the verb “to create” used in Genesis 1 must mean “to make out of nothing.” It is therefore no wonder that this verb "to create" is used exclusively for God’s activities.

III. By Whom creation came about←⤒🔗

The Father created everything “through his Word, that is, through his Son.” So an explanatory equal sign is placed between the Word of the Father and his Son. The Word is his Son. This article clearly says what is meant by this Word. It is the Word by which God created the heavens, the earth and all creatures out of nothing. So it consists of all the creation commands that we encounter in Genesis 1, such as “Let there be light.”

We might think that these words and commands have long since vanished, and that God’s voice has since died away — just as it happens with our words.
But on the basis of Scripture, this article confesses that all these words of God together form his eternal Word. That Word of God retains its power and remains valid and existing. It is a divine Word — indeed, it is God himself, namely the Son of God. And that is why this article says that God made the world “through his Word, that is, through his Son.” There is a very strong connection between God’s speaking during creation and his Son, so strong that the church confesses that that Word is his Son. This means that the Son executed this Word and is still doing so, for “he upholds the universe [“all things" (Hebrews 1:2)] by the word of his power” (Hebrews 1:3). The Son has forever identified himself with that Word. He is that Word. He is the Word personified. Therefore all things were made through the Word, through him (John 1:3), and therefore God says in John 1:1 that this Word was in the beginning (when the heavens and the earth were created) and that this Word was with God and that the Word was God.

IV. The when and why of creation←⤒🔗

1. The Father made all things “when it seemed good to him.” Curious people may ask why God did not make everything much sooner or later. There is only one answer to all such questions: God did it when he himself wanted it to happen.
   As an aside: According to an anecdote already known to Augustine, a mocker who asked what God was doing before the world existed, received the reply: preparing hell for curious people.
   In fact, this article also answers such questions such as why God created the world and why he made it this way and why not more than one world? He did it this way because he did not want it any other way. According to Revelation 4:11 it is fitting for us only to worship him who sits on his throne: “Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honour and power; for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.”
   We despise any speculation that God did it because he wanted more glory, or to conquer loneliness, or felt some inner pressure.

V. The task given to all creation←⤒🔗

1. It is the duty of all creatures to praise God. This article speaks of "serving," but we cannot serve God any better than by praising him. Psalm 148 calls upon the most diverse creatures to do so: angels, sun and moon, the stars, the heavens, clouds, sea creatures, deep waters, fire, hail, snow, mist, storm winds, mountains, trees of various kinds, animals, men of all ranks and age — with one call for them all!
   They all do so in their own way. Clouds do it differently than angels. Our article professes that God gave each creature its specific task and function to serve their Creator accordingly  — everyone and everything in its own way.
2. Man occupies a special place among the creatures. It even says that God sustains all creatures "to serve man." Creation is like a spacious and beautiful home, which is furnished as lavishly as possible, according to Calvin. God prepared this palatial home for man. Everything was made in such a way that man would feel indescribably happy in it. All creatures must serve man in some way. The sun must give warmth, the sheep provide wool, and the mines provide minerals. God serves man to this day through this beautiful creation maintained by him. But the purpose of it is that "man may serve his God" by praising him for all of this.

VI. The position of the angels in creation←⤒🔗

1. Whoever wants to satisfy his curiosity in regard to the angels searches in vain in the Scriptures. As always, God only reveals about the angels as much as is necessary for us. In this case as much as is necessary for our comfort and for our warning.
2. a. We should know that a group of angels rebelled against God. How that could happen to sinless and well-created angels remains a mystery to us. The Manichees solved this mystery by claiming that the devils have always had an evil nature. We admit that we can hardly imagine that at one time the devils were good angels who served and praised God. But the Scriptures do not leave us in doubt about the fact of their rebellion. It speaks of God’s angels who sinned (2 Peter 2:4), and of “angels who did not stay within their own position of authority, but left their proper dwelling” (Jude 6). This article notes that they “have fallen from the exalted position in which God created them into everlasting perdition.”
   b. The other angels were given the choice at the time, for we read of them that they “remained steadfast by the grace of God.” Although they were fully responsible for their free choice for or against God, it was God’s preserving grace that made them persevere.
   Why did one angel remain steadfast and not another? God’s election enters into the picture here. Indeed Paul speaks of "the elect angels" (1 Timothy 5:21).
3. First of all, we may know for our comfort that the good angels are messengers of God to this day and that in this function they serve the true believers. So these created beings also "serve" man (see Section V, point 2, above): “Are they not all ministering spirits sent out to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation?” (Hebrews 1:14). See also Psalm 91:11-12.
   The Scriptures hardly say anything about how they actually help us. But the fact that they are there should be a great encouragement to us: “Those who are with us are more than those who are with them” (2 Kings 6:16).
4. We are seriously warned against the evil angels. Allow the article to speak for itself!

Points to discuss←↰⤒🔗

1. Does the way in which Genesis 1 speaks about the six days give any inclination to think of longer periods of time? Why do some people advocate this view?
2. Genesis 2:7 says that God formed man from the dust of the ground. But in Genesis 1:27 it says up to three times that he created man (in other words, made out of nothing). Does that match?
3. The theory of evolution is based, among other things, on the fact that there are all kinds of relationships between man and other creatures, and among individual creatures themselves. How can we explain this actual affinity?
4. Does every believer have a guardian angel (Psalm 91:11; Matthew 18:10)?
5. In this article the unity comes to the fore between the Son and the Word-as-it-was-spoken-at-creation. Is this same unity there when it comes to all of God’s words? And is Calvin therefore correct when he calls the Son, that is, the Word, “the source of all God’s inspiration” (Institutes I.12.7)?