64. We can be quite certain, on the basis of all this and of many other things consistent with it (which it would take too long to include) that God is a person and that the created universe is an image of him. The overall totality offers a reflection of him, just as specific aspects offer reflections of us.

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.