Shorter Catechism Q. 9. What is the work of creation? A. The work of creation is God’s making all things of nothing, by the word of his power, in the space of six days, and all very good.
Commentary: Where did the universe come from? Was it always here? Or did it have a beginning? And if it had a beginning, how did it come into existence? We don’t have to wonder or speculate about the origin of the universe because God tells us how it came to be. In the beginning, God created all things. There was a time when the universe was not. Therefore, it is not eternal. It had a beginning, and it began when God created or made it.
God created the universe out of nothing. This is not to say that everything was made from nothing. For example, God made Adam from the dust, and he made Eve from Adam. We must distinguish, as Hodge says, “between God’s immediate creation of the material elements out of nothing, and his mediate creation of new species of things out of materials already existing.”
God created the universe by the word of his power. He spoke and it came into being. He said let there be light, and there was light.
God created the universe in the space of six days. He could have taken any amount of time to create the universe, from a nanosecond to millions of years. However, he chose to create in six days so that we might imitate his example of work and rest.
God made all things very good. He did not create evil, and there was a time when evil was not. Moreover, body, and not just spirit, is good because God made it, and he made all things very good. Physical pleasure and earthly delights, therefore, are good gifts from God and they are to be enjoyed with thanksgiving.