Man as the center was generated, the higher life with the highest consciousness. This is the maturity of life that has the image of God and is able to exercise dominion for God. On this earth, man is the center. As we have pointed out before, the heavens are for the earth and the earth is for man. Everything in the sky—the sunshine, the rain, and the air—are for the growth of life on earth. Without sunshine, rain, and air there is no possibility to have life on earth. So, the heavens are for this earth, and this earth, with all kinds of life, is for man. We all know that the minerals are for the plants, the plants are for the animals, both the plants and the animals are for man, and man is for God. So man is the center.
The heavens were fixed and the earth was prepared. Everything was ready for man to come into being. Praise the Lord! God didn't create man and then ask man to wait until He fixed the heavens and prepared the earth for him. On the contrary, after God fixed the heavens, prepared the earth, and made everything ready, man came into being. At the last, God created man. Man ranks as the last, but he was and still is the center.
This is exactly like a marriage according to oriental custom. In such a marriage, the husband prepares everything and, at the last, the bride comes in. The bride does not appear and then wait for everything to be prepared. After everything has been prepared, the bride appears. Likewise, the whole earth is a place for God's wedding. God has prepared all things for His wedding. Who is the bride? The bride is man.
Man is the maturity of all created life. Without man, there is no maturity. Look at the grass. It is green and tender, but it is lacking in form, in appearance. It has no face. The herbs, including corn and wheat, are more developed in form. However, they also have no face. The trees are larger, bearing fruit as well as seeds; yet, none of them has a face with which to express itself. After these three levels of plant life, we have the fish, the first level of animal life. The fish does have a face with two small eyes, but its head is not clearly distinguished. And a fish has no neck. The birds, however, have a distinct face and neck. They have eyes, ears, and a small mouth, somewhat closer to the face of man. The cattle, horses, and oxen have faces similar to a human face. Following the cattle, we have the beasts, especially the lion. The face of a lion closely resembles a human face. Although Darwin foolishly said that man is a descendent of the monkey, it is nevertheless true that the faces of some beasts resemble the face of man. However, regardless of how much the faces of birds, cattle, beasts, eagles, oxen, and lambs resemble the face of man, they are not man. They are short and they are inferior. They are not the maturity of the created life.
Ezekiel 1:5, 10 speaks of the four living creatures. These four living creatures look like man. Each has four faces: the face of a man at the front, the face of a lion on the right side, the face of an ox on the left side, and the face of an eagle at the rear. The eagle is at the rear because an eagle's face is not much like a man's. The faces of the lion and the ox are much closer to man's face. However, man's face is supreme. Thus, the human life is the maturity of all created life, having the ability to express God and to exercise God's dominion.
The most striking and wonderful thing about the human life is its consciousness. We do have the highest consciousness. This consciousness of ours is higher than the fish, the eagle, the ox, and the lion. As far as consciousness goes, the human life is the highest. We need to shout, "Hallelujah!" In this universe and on this earth man has been generated. Man has been created, possessing a life with the highest consciousness, a life that is able to express God and represent God. This is wonderful! The creation of man was so crucial and important that the Triune God held a conference before He did it. The sky had been restored. The heavens had been fixed for the purpose of serving the earth. The dry land appeared for the purpose of generating plant life, the animal life, and the human life. Look at the sky: we have the sun, the moon, the stars, the rain, and the air. Look at the earth: we have the grass, the herbs, and the trees. We have the birds in the air, the fish in the water, and the cattle, the beasts, and the creeping things on the earth. As the center of all this, we have man, expressing God and representing God. After God created man, He rested. He was satisfied.