330. Since the goal of creation is a heaven from the human race (and therefore the human race itself), the intermediate goals are everything else that has been created. Because these do relate to us, they focus on these three aspects of us: our bodies, our rational functioning, and, for the sake of our union with the Lord, our spiritual functioning. We cannot be united to the Lord unless we are spiritual; we cannot be spiritual unless we are rational; and we cannot be rational unless we are physically whole. These aspects are like a house, with the body as its foundation, the structure of the house as our rational functioning, and the contents of the house as our spiritual functioning. Living in the house is union with the Lord.

This enables us to see the sequence, level, and focus of the relationship to us of the useful functions that are intermediate goals of creation. That is, they are for the support of our bodies, for the development of our rational ability, and for our acceptance of what is spiritual from the Lord.

154. The Lord created the universe and everything in it by means of the sun in the spiritual world because that sun is the first emanation of His Divine love and wisdom, and everything originates from Divine love and wisdom, as we demonstrated above in nos. 52-82.

We find in everything created, in the grandest and in the most infinitesimal, three elements - end, cause and effect. There is nothing created that does not have in it these three elements.

In the grand scheme or in the universe these three occur in sequence as follows. In the sun which is the first emanation of Divine love and wisdom is found the end or purpose in all things. In the spiritual world are found the causes of all things. And in the natural world are found the effects of all things. But how these three exist in the firsts of creation and in the lasts of it will be told in subsequent discussions.

Now because there is nothing created that does not have in it these three elements, it follows that the Lord created the universe and everything in it by the sun which has in it the end or purpose in all things.