In Latter-day Saint belief, the Creation of the Earth is understood more as an "organization" rather than creation from nothing. This principle reflects the idea that God used pre-existing materials, or "elements," to form our world.

Doctrine & Covenants 93:33 tells us, "The elements are eternal," emphasizing that matter has always existed. Rather than creating matter from the void, God organized it.

This is further supported in Abraham 3:24, where we read, "And there stood one among them that was like unto God, and he said unto those who were with him: We will go down, for there is space there, and we will take of these materials, and we will make an earth whereon these may dwell."

Instead of bringing a new universe into existence, this scripture depicts God and others organizing or assembling the Earth using available materials.

The process of creation is thus viewed as one of order and structuring. The idea is that the Earth and everything on it were not snapped into existence but were carefully organized according to divine plans and eternal laws.

This belief underscores the role of God as a divine organizer and lawgiver, working with eternal materials to achieve His purposes. In this view, God’s work on Earth can be seen as aligning with universal principles that have always existed.

Seeing creation as an organization also ties into beliefs about the eternal nature of matter, which supports doctrines like the Resurrection. Just as God organized the Earth, our eternal spirits are meant to be reunited with our perfected bodies, beautifully organized into a glorified state.

The view that contrasts with Latter-day Saints is known as creatio ex nihilo (Latin for “creation out of nothing”). This view is held by the vast majority of modern Jews, Christians, and Muslims. It is the belief that all of the universe was created by God at one point in time “out of nothing” and that, contrary to Latter-day Saints, the existence of matter had a finite beginning. The academic consensus of biblical scholars is that all of the biblical texts teach that God created the world out of pre existing matter.¹⁷⁰

This perspective highlights the eternal nature of matter and portrays God as a master organizer, working within eternal laws to bring about His divine purposes.