History of the philosophy of mind in a nutshell:

We moved from Identity type theory to identity token theory. From identity token theory to functionalism. From functionalism to emergentism. We seem to be moving closer towards the mind not being material

The basic distinction missing from this analysis is between material cause and efficient cause. According to standard exnihilo explanation the universe lacks a material cause (stuff out of which the initial thing came) but has an efficient cause (an maker of the thing in question).
An analogy might be the way someone imagines a unicorn in their mind. It didn't come out of some pre-existing stuff but still had a creator.