Even though this is the Devil’s world, we chose to come here. God honors our agency. And since we are here, we must assume we chose to be here. We probably understood this was the only way to advance and become more like God. However, I believe some people just came here to oppose those of us seeking greater light and knowledge. And that is entirely necessary — to have both kinds of these people and the whole spectrum of others in-between.
This life makes devils and angels.
I recently read where C. S. Lewis talked about meeting God one day — and how we need to love God with all our heart, soul, and mind because the day will come when we meet God:
In the twinkling of an eye, in a time too small to be measured, and in any place, all that seems to divide us from God can flee away, leaving us naked before Him, like the first man, like the only man, as if nothing but He and I existed. And since that contact cannot be avoided for long, and since it means either bliss or horror, the business of life is to learn to like it. That is the first and great commandment. (C.S. Lewis, Dogma and the Universe, God in the Dock
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)I wasn’t sure what he meant about liking life — how can you like the devil’s world? Yet, partaking of the tree of knowledge is the only way to become like God. And when we love Him (as we are commanded to do so,) this life makes more sense, and I guess you could say, as did C. S. Lewis, that “the business of life is to learn to like it.” Like the test. Like the fall — it’s the process of becoming a new creature in God.
You begin to understand the necessity of the trials and descents — because those experiences enable you to ascend the ladder to heaven. I would say I understand it, but I have yet to say “I like it.” I feel more like Eve when she said, “Is there no other way?”
God answers Job in a whirlwind, William Blake.
Originally posted Feb 2016, updated Aug 2021.
