We began by talking about the environment mankind inhabits and what God did for that environment and the preparations He made. We discussed what He arranged; the relationships between the things of creation, which God prepared for mankind; and how God arranged these relationships to prevent the things of His creation from harming mankind. God also mitigated the harm that many different factors within His creation may have had on mankind’s environment, allowing all things to serve their highest purpose, and bring mankind a beneficial environment with beneficial elements, thus enabling mankind to adapt to such an environment and steadily continue the cycle of life and reproduction. Next, we talked about the food the human body needs—mankind’s daily food and drink. This is also a necessary condition for mankind’s survival. That is to say, the human body cannot live by breathing alone, with just sunlight for sustenance, or wind, or suitable temperatures. Human beings also need to fill their stomachs, and God prepared for mankind, without overlooking anything, the sources of the things with which they might do so, those being the sources of mankind’s food. When you have seen such rich and bountiful produce—the sources of mankind’s food and drink—can you say that God is the source of the supply for mankind and for all the things of His creation? If, during the time of creation, God had only created trees and grass or any number of other living things, and if these various living things and plants were all for cows and sheep to eat, or were for zebras, deer, and various other kinds of animals, for instance, lions were to eat things such as zebras and deer, and tigers were to eat things such as sheep and pigs—but there were not a single thing suitable for humans to eat, would that have worked? It would not. Mankind would not have been able to survive for long. What if humans only ate leaves? Would that have worked? Could humans eat the grass meant for sheep? It might not hurt if they tried a bit, but if they ate such things for a long time, their stomachs would not be able to tolerate it, and people would not have lived for long. There are even things that animals can eat but are poisonous to humans—animals eat them without consequence, but it is not so for humans. This is to say that God created human beings, so God knows best the principles and structure of the human body and what humans need. God knows with perfect clarity the body’s composition and content, its needs and the functioning of its internal organs, and how they absorb, eliminate and metabolize various substances. Humans do not; sometimes, they eat imprudently, or engage in reckless self-care, too much of which causes an imbalance. If you eat and enjoy the things that God prepared for you in a normal way, then you will have no health problems. Even if you sometimes experience bad moods and you have stagnation of the blood, this poses no problem at all. You simply need to eat a certain type of plant, and the stagnation will clear up. God has made preparations for all of these things. So, in God’s eyes, mankind is far above any other living thing. God prepared an environment for each kind of plant, and He prepared food and an environment for each kind of animal, but mankind has the most stringent needs of its environment, and those needs cannot be overlooked in the slightest way; if they were, mankind would not be able to continue developing and living and reproducing in a normal way. It is God who knows this best, in His heart. When God did this, He placed more importance on it than on anything else. Perhaps you are unable to sense the importance of some unremarkable thing you can see and enjoy in your life, or something you see and enjoy that you have had since birth, but God has already made preparations for you long ago or in secret. To the greatest possible extent, God has removed and mitigated all negative elements that are unfavorable to mankind and might harm the human body. What does this show? Does it show the attitude God had toward mankind when He created them this time? What was that attitude? God’s attitude was careful and earnest, and it brooked no interference by any enemy forces or external factors or conditions not of Him. In this can be seen God’s attitude in creating and managing mankind this time. And what is God’s attitude? Through the environment for survival and life that mankind enjoys, as well as in their daily food and drink and daily needs, we can see God’s attitude of responsibility toward mankind, which He has held since He created man, as well as His determination to save mankind at this time. Is God’s authenticity visible in these things? Is His wondrousness? His unfathomability? His omnipotence? God uses His wise and almighty ways to provide for all of mankind, as well as to provision all the things of His creation. Now that I have said so much to you, can you say that God is the source of life for all things? (Yes.) That is certainly so. Do you have any doubts? (No.) God’s provision for all things suffices to show that He is the source of life for all things, because He is the source of the provision that has enabled all things to exist, live, reproduce, and continue on, and there is no source except for God Himself. God provides for all the needs of all things and all the needs of mankind, whether those be people’s most basic environmental needs, the needs of their daily lives, or the need for the truth that He provides to people’s spirits. In every way, God’s identity and His status are of great importance to mankind; only God Himself is the source of life for all things. That is to say, God is the Ruler, the Master, and Provider of this world, this world that people can see and feel. For mankind, is this not God’s identity? There is nothing false in this. So when you see birds flying in the sky, you should know that God created everything that can fly. There are living things that swim in the water, and they have their own ways of surviving. The trees and the plants that live in the soil bud and sprout in spring and bear fruit and shed leaves in autumn, and by winter all the leaves have fallen as those plants prepare to weather the winter. That is their way of survival. God created all things, and each lives in different forms and different ways and uses different methods to exhibit its life force and the form in which it lives. No matter how things go about living, they are all under God’s rule. What is the purpose of God ruling over all the different forms of life and living beings? Is it for the sake of mankind’s survival? He controls all the laws of life, all for the sake of mankind’s survival. This shows just how important mankind’s survival is to God.

—The Word, Vol. 2. On Knowing God. God Himself, the Unique VIII