"So that he may give eternal life to all you gave him"
In the beginning it was not because he had need of man that God fashioned Adam but so as to have someone on whom to set his blessings. For, not only before Adam but even before creation, the Word glorified the Father while dwelling in him and was glorified by the Father as he himself said: “Father, glorify me with the glory that I had with you before the world began.” Further, it wasn't because he needed our help that he told us to follow him but to win salvation for us. Because following the Savior is to share in salvation just as following the light is to have a share in the light.
When people stand in the light, it is not they who illumine the light and cause it to shine but who are illumined and made to shine by it. Far from contributing anything at all to it, they benefit from the light and are lit up by it. This is how it is in serving God: our service contributes nothing to God for God has no need of man's service; but to those who serve and follow him God gives life, incorruptibility and eternal glory...
If God requests man's service it is so that he who is good and merciful might grant his blessings to those who persevere in his service. For, if God has no need of anything, yet man has need of communion with God. The glory of man is to persevere in the service of God. That is why our Savior said to his disciples: “It was not you who chose me but I who chose you” (Jn 15,16). Thus he showed that it was not they who glorified him by following him but that, since they had followed the Son of God, they were glorified by him. “Father, I wish that where I am they also may be with me, that they may see my glory” (Jn 17,24).
St. Philip Neri