Who is the flower in Les's analogy?
The flower in the analogy is Christ. He is the full bloom of God's progressive revelation, first coming as the bud in His first advent, then revealed in fullness through the revelations given to the apostle Paul after Israel rejected Him.
Les explains that in his analogy, Genesis is the bulb where everything began, the Old Testament is the stem with progressive revelation, and Christ in His first advent is the bud ready to come into full bloom. But Israel cut off the bud, as Daniel spoke of Messiah being cut off. God in His sovereignty put the bud back on, continuing through His post-resurrection and the book of Acts, yet Israel kept rejecting it. So God raised up another apostle, Paul, and through the revelations given to him, the full flower is seen—not Paul himself, but his revelations. Christ is the flower, revealed in a way not found elsewhere in Scripture.