This is how Article 12 "The Creation of All Things" reads:
We believe that the Father created heaven and earth and all other creatures from nothing, when it seemed good to Him, by His Word--that is to say, by His Son.
He has given all creatures their being, form, and appearance, and their various functions for serving their Creator.
Even now He also sustains and governs them all, according to His eternal providence, and by His infinite power, that they may serve man, in order that man may serve God.
He also created the angels good, that they might be His messengers and serve His elect.
Some of them have fallen from the excellence in which God created them into eternal perdition; and the others have persisted and remained in their original state, by the grace of God.
The devils and evil spirits are so corrupt that they are enemies of God and of everything good. They lie in way for the church and every member of it like thieves, with all their power, to destroy and spoil everything by their deceptions.
So then, by their own wickedness they are condemned to everlasting damnation, daily awaiting their torments.
For that reason we detest the error of the Sadducees, who deny that there are spirits and angels, and also the error of the Manicheans, who say that the devils originated by themselves, being evil by nature, without having been corrupted.
Now this article is full of great stuff. It is a long one, but is neatly divided into six sections:
First Section: The Purpose of Creation
The first section consists of the first three paragraphs in which Guido is emphasizing the purpose of creation. The purpose of creation is stated three times in these paragraphs with the key word being "service" (and then again in the fourth paragraph).
The first paragraph acknowledges whom the Creator is, how He created it and when He created it. God is named as the the creator just as Genesis 1:1 records also. And God created "the heavens and earth and all other creatures from nothing" declares Guido. Everything that has been created or will ever be created has been created and will be created by God out of nothing! And the time that God did this was "when it seemed good to Him..." Guido declares. The time to create the heavens and the earth was the time when it seemed good for God to do so. There wasn't any other time that God would've wanted to create things--He did it on His own time and because it seemed good to Him. And finally, God created everything by His Word--namely Jesus Christ. God spoke and there was the creation. What magnificent power!
The second paragraph explains what God gave to creation and why He gave them these things. God gave creation "their being, form, and appearance, and their various functions." Everything that we have in creation, just think how vast that is, was given to us by God Himself! And the reason for God giving these things to us was "for serving their Creator." God gave us all these things--our being, form, appearance and our various functions--for the purpose of serving Himself! Not only must humans serve God, but all aspects of creation serve the Creator God! In a sermon on Colossians 1:15-23 it is clearly explain as well the purpose of creation. Everything that exists, exists to make the glory of God and the greatness of Christ more fully known. This is our (humanities) way and creations way of serving God--to make Him known!
And the third paragraph continues this thought as well toward the end, but also gives us great comfort and insight into what God is doing now. God also "sustains and governs them all according to His eternal providence and His infinite power..." God continues to be active, not passive, in the creation which He has made! What a comfort to know that everything God made, He now rules, upholds, is involved in and controls it! And the purpose of this is again, "that they may serve man, in order that man may serve God." So God serves humanity by sustaining and governing the creation through His eternal providence and His infinite power in order that humanity might serve God back! How wonderful and magnificent this truly is!
Second Section: Angels
The fourth paragraph states also that God "created the angels good that they might be His messengers and serve His elect." God has chosen to create angels as well being 'good'. His purpose of creating angels was to first have them be "His messengers" and secondly, for them to "serve His elect." Again, the created order--even angels--were created for service!
Third Section: Fallen Angels
In the third section consisting of the fifth paragraph; Guido continues the thought of the angels. Except now he speaks of the fallen angels. He explains that some of the angels have fallen while others have stayed in the original state. The ones who fell which is recorded in Jude 6, Ezekiel 28, and 2 Peter 2:4; fell from "the excellence in which God created them into eternal perdition." They left their state of of excellence due to their proud heart and arrogance to be like God. Therefore, they now rest in hell being tormented daily. But there are some angels who didn't fall--and they "persisted and remained in their original state, by the grace of God." God's grace has kept them persistent and they now remain with God in their state of excellence. It is interesting to note that the angels who fell, fell because they did not serve God--they wanted to be like God; therefore they were serving themselves. And serving themselves was not God's purpose in creating them; therefore they opposed God's purpose!
Fourth Section: Opposing Service
The fourth section, in the sixth paragraph, also re-emphasizes the angels--devils and evil spirits--who now don't serve God; rather they serve themselves. "They are enemies of God and of everything good" implying that they are no longer 'good' as God created them--they strongly oppose the way of God. Guido continues to say that "they lie in wait for the church and every member of it like thieves with all their power, to destroy and spoil everything by their deceptions." Now this is not comforting. The devil waits for the members of the church to destroy them and to spoil everything by their own power. However, this power they have is not an infinite power as we heard earlier from Guido in the third paragraph. God's power is an infinite power in which God sustains and governs all of creation--the devil's power is no match for the infinite power of God!
Fifth Section: The Result Of Opposing God's Purpose of Creation
The result of opposing God's purpose of creation, which again is service, is named by Guido in the fifth section which is in the seventh paragraph. The result is "they are condemned to everlasting damnation, daily awaiting their torments." And this is done "by their own wickedness" and not by another means--it is something completely done by their own wickedness--by themselves they have ushered their way into hell. And in hell, they "daily await their torments." Such a dreadful picture of a place that you don't want to go!
Sixth Section: Two Extreme Errors
In the last paragraph Guido names two errors--one by the Sadducees and the other by the Manicheans. It is important to note that Guido mentions these two in order to keep the church pure because the Belgic Confession is about what the church believes; therefore at some points they must write about what they do not believe. There are two extreme errors to make in regards to evil spirits, the devil and angels. The Sadducees were on one extreme side of the argument denying wholeheartedly that "there are spirits and angels". On the opposite extreme side were the Manicheans "who say that the devils originated by themselves, being evil by nature, without having been corrupted." So these two extremes are something to avoid; saying that there are no evil spirits and then saying that they originated by themselves are both completely wrong to say. Therefore Guido warns against these two errors.
The first half of Article 12, Guido is naming the purpose of creation is for service unto God. And those who oppose this purpose--namely the devil and evil spirits--are not following God's ways of operating in the world. Therefore, they have been punished and ultimately they have brought this condemnation upon themselves.
What is your purpose for living?
Is it to serve the One who created you?
Is it to make the glory of Christ more fully known?
Or is it to serve yourself and glorify your own name?
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