All Things Stood Up Before Him at his Voice—In the formation of our world, God was not beholden to preexistent substance or matter. For the “things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.” On the contrary, all things, material or spiritual, stood up before the Lord Jehovah at his voice, and were created for his own purpose. The heavens and all the host of them, the earth and all things that are therein, are not only the work of his hand, they came into existence by the breath of his mouth. (3SM 312.1) MC VC