The whole purpose of the universe is man's existence—that we may make use of all of creation and our G-d given abilities to transform the corporeal world into a Divine domain for G-d. Imagine you have a dinner party with a guest of honor. You make sure that everything he may need or wish be ready before the guest arrives. So too, G-d wanted to create the entire world before creating man, so that Adam would have everything already at his disposal to fulfill his Divine mission. That everything was created in preparation for Adam's arrival in the universe, is both a privilege for him, as well as a sign of his responsibility.

“All that G-d created was created only to honor Him.” Everything in the universe has holy potential and the only way to realize this potential is through mankind's using creation for spiritual goals. This is the “honor” that G-d desires, and He has given us all the tools to make this potential into a reality.

Without man in the world, the first five days of creation serve no purpose. The universe was essentially meaningless. Only upon man's arrival did the entirety of existence attain an incomparable spiritual elevation and entirely new reality. The last day of creation was really the first day when everything came to be. For this reason, the sixth day is called the “beginning.” This phenomenal transformation of the world is repeated on Rosh Hashanah every single year. When we coronate G-d as King and accept His dominion over us, then we once again give meaning to the entire created universe. We reaffirm our duties as G-d's faithful servants, and thereby grant true existence to all that is.