God’s eternal plan, which He designed in the beginning, is to be accomplished through man. After God created man, He gave His purpose over to man’s will for man to choose and to agree with. If man agrees a little, God works a little. If man accepts a little, God accomplishes a little. If man has a little of God’s mind, God completes a little. If man moves with God a little, God advances a little. From Genesis to Revelation the entire Bible shows the principle that no one ever seeks out God; rather, it is God who seeks out man. No one chooses God; it is God who chooses man. God not only loves man, but even more, He desires to gain man. The reason God desires to gain man is that He loves man; the reason He loves man is that He desires to gain man. Why does a husband love his wife? It is because he desires to gain his wife. Why does he desire to gain his wife? It is because he loves his wife. In the universe there is a law: When God created man, He said that it is not good for man to be alone (Gen. 2:18). This means that a man must have a counterpart, a wife. However, this word is merely a type; it has a spiritual significance. It signifies that in the universe it is not good for God to be alone. God must have a counterpart, and this counterpart is man. God is seeking a counterpart, and man is the counterpart whom God seeks.
One day God became flesh, coming down to earth from heaven. What did He come for? It is not wrong to say that He came to be the Savior. John the Baptist did say, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29). However, John also said, “He who has the bride is the bridegroom” (3:29). The Lord Jesus came not only to be the Savior to save sinners but even more to be the Bridegroom to marry His beloved bride. Who is His beloved bride? It is man. God loves man in the way that a man loves a woman. The sweetest feeling that God has within is when He gains man. What God loves the most is that man can be His counterpart, His companion, being of the same mind as He and walking with Him. In this way the two—man and God, God and man—can become one. Paul said that he betrothed us, the saved ones, to present us as a pure virgin to Christ (2 Cor. 11:2). We are Christ’s counterpart, and Christ desires to gain us. The Bible says that when the New Jerusalem comes in the future, the bride will have made herself ready, and the Bridegroom will marry the bride (Rev. 19:7; 21:2, 9-10). This Bridegroom is the God who created man and redeemed man. The God who created and redeemed man is the universal Bridegroom, and the bride is the man whom God created and redeemed. The man whom God created and redeemed is His bride, His counterpart.
Thus, we see how much God needs man. In the universe, God is a God who lacks nothing, yet He has the greatest lack—man. God lacks man. He lacks you and me, and He lacks every sinner. For this reason, He came to work by calling, seeking, saving, leading, and guarding. He worked in many ways and in a thorough manner, and His only goal is to gain man. Here we must see clearly that God’s only lack is man; therefore, He desires to gain man. We have heard God’s voice not only in the New Testament but even in the Old Testament, when He spoke from heaven, “Whom shall I send? Who will go for Us?” (Isa. 6:8). This word is very clear. God in heaven desires to bring His work down to earth, but He needs a channel, a way, on the earth. This channel, this way, is man. This is where man’s function lies.
Who is willing to be the Lord’s channel today? Who is willing to be His way to match Him and to be of the same mind with Him? Who is willing to move with Him and work with Him? History has proven that the Lord’s move advanced and spread any time there was a person, a few persons, or a group of people, regardless of the age, place, or ethnicity, who were gained by the Lord to be of the same mind as the Lord, to move and work with the Lord, and to desire the Lord’s purpose and work to be fulfilled. As long as there was this kind of cooperation with God, regardless of the age, place, or kind of people, God was manifested immediately, and His work, His purpose, was fulfilled to a greater extent.
This is a great principle, a great law. God needs man; He needs to gain man as His counterpart, as one who is of the same mind as He and is willing to be His co-worker. Without man, it is difficult for God to move an inch. In eternity past God was omnipotent, but in time He cannot move without man. Without man, God does not and cannot do anything. Likewise, if the Lord cannot gain a group of people in the Philippines, His gospel and work will have no channel on earth. If the Lord cannot gain some people in the countries of Southeast Asia, if He cannot gain you and me, we should not expect that He will be able to do His work and have His way here. For Him to do so would violate the principle, the law, of His work. Our God is a law-abiding God, a principled God. According to His law, He gave Himself over to man. Man can either impede, limit, bind, and hinder God, or he can complement God, help Him, move with Him, be of the same mind as He, labor with Him, and be His channel, giving Him a way, even a smooth way. Everything depends on man’s attitude toward God.