All Things in the Universe were created from the Divine Love and the Divine Wisdom of God-Man

The universe in its greatest and least parts, as well as in its first and last principles, is so full of Divine love and Divine wisdom that it may be said to be Divine love and Divine wisdom in an image. That this is so is manifest from the correspondence of all things in the universe with all things in man. Each and all things that exist in the created universe have such correspon­dence with each and all things of man that it may be said that man also is a kind of universe. There is a correspondence of his affections and of his thoughts from them with all things of the animal kingdom; a correspondence of his will, and of his understanding from this, with all things of the vegetable king­dom; and a correspondence of his ultimate life with all things of the mineral kingdom. It does not appear to any one in the natural world that there is such a correspondence, but it appears to every one who attends to it in the spiritual world. In that world are all things that exist in the natural world, in its three kingdoms; and they are the correspondences of the affections and thoughts—of the affections of the will and the thoughts of the understanding,—as also of the ultimates of the life, of those who dwell there. They appear around them with an aspect like that of the created universe, with the difference that they are in lesser form. From this it is manifest to the angels that the created universe is an image representative of God Man; and it is His love and wisdom that are manifested in the universe in an image. Not that the created universe is God Man, but that it is from Him. For nothing whatever in the created universe is a substance and form in itself, or life in itself, or love and wisdom in itself; yea, neither is man a man in himself; but all is from God, who is Man, wisdom and love, and form and substance, in Himself. That which Is, in itself, is uncreate and infinite; but that which is from this, having nothing about it which is, in itself, is created and finite. And this represents the image of Him from whom it is and exists. (DLW n. 52)

CREATION

God created the Universe from Himself, not out of Nothing

Every one who thinks with clear reason sees that the universe is not created from, nothing, because he sees that it is impossible for anything to be made out of nothing. For nothing is nothing, and to make anything out of nothing is contradictory, and what is contradictory is contrary to the light of truth, which is from the Divine wisdom; and whatever is not from the Divine wisdom is not from the Divine omnipotence. Every one who thinks from clear reason sees also that all things were created of substance which is substance in itself; for this is the very Being from which all things that are can exist. And as God alone is substance in itself, and hence the very Being, it is evident that the existence of things is from no other source. Many have seen this, for reason gives to see it, but have not dared to confirm it; fearing that thereby they might come to think that the created universe is God, because it is from God; or that nature exists from itself, and thus that its inmost is what is called God. Hence, although many have seen that the existence of all things is from no other source than from God and from His Being, yet they dared not proceed beyond the first thought on the subject, lest they should entangle their understanding in a Gordian knot, as it is called, from whence they might not after­wards be able to extricate it. The reason why they might not have been able to extricate their understanding is, that they thought of God, and of the creation of the universe by God, from time and space, which are peculiar to nature; and no one can perceive God and the creation of the universe from nature, but every one whose understanding is in any degree of interior light, may per­ceive nature and its creation from God, because God is not in time and space. (DLW n. 283)