Page:The Philosophy of Creation.djvu/329

 use of creation, that his production is the essential end in the First Cause, it is conclusive that he is as enduring as the First Cause, the Creator, from whom he sprang, which is to say that man by creation becomes immortal.

The use that preserves man must also perpetuate the earth upon which he rests, and also the sun, without which there could be no life. Use reveals the purpose of Him "Who laid the foundations of the earth, that it should not be removed forever." Whatsoever may be the appearance due to the temporal character of material forms, their uses, together with the whole force of the universal intelligence that unites all in a single design, effecting a sole and final use to mankind, confirm the stability of the universe and the immortality of man. "For thus saith the Lord that created the heavens; God Himself that formed the earth and made it; He hath established it, He created it not in vain, He formed it to be inhabited." "The earth abideth forever."