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Continued....

What is the point of life? What is the purpose?

If we look at any product or work created by (intelligent) human beings we can see that everything is created with a purpose, and the design of the work is shaped according to that purpose so that the work or product can fulfill that purpose. We can also see that the purpose of the work and the design of that work both reflect the nature of the creator. An artist's work, for example, is a visible expression of the artist's invisible mind. We cannot see the mind, but we can perceive things about the artist's mind by observing the work. Same with an author. Same with creator.

So, how about the Creator of all, God? We can see that all things in the universe exist with an invisible internal character that defines who or what they are plus an external visible form that manifests or expressed that internal character. Human beings have a mind (spirit) and a body (flesh). We cannot see someone's mind, but we can perceive it via how that express themselves via the body, their actions, expressions, words, etc.

Animals have an instinct that is internal and invisible, but the actions and behavior of that animal's body or form is driven and guided by that instinct. An otter behaves differently to a fox: they have different internal natures.

Plants likewise have an inner inherent identity, and they grow according to that nature. Tomatoes grow in the soil, algae grows in water.

On the mineral level, the chemical nature of the minerals determine what they are and how they behave or interact. H2O Water melts at 0 °C celsius, but gold melts at 1,064 °C.

On an atomic and subatomic level, the same principle manifests. Atoms have an inherent directive nature that determines what they are and how they interact. That inherent invisible nature is what we call the laws of physics, and those invisible laws manifest in visible form via molecules, atoms, and sub-atomic particles.

How is it that ALL things in the created universe follow this pattern, of invisible internal nature and visible external form? Where does this pattern come from? When we consider that the created universe, including human beings, are ALL manifestations of God's nature, we can clearly and logically deduce that God the Creator himself has some internal characteristic nature that manifests via some external form. God's internal nature is essentially God's 'mind' the consciousness of God that includes emotion, intellect and will (volition). Human beings have this nature because we are created in 'God's image', i.e. we are a direct (and the highest) expression of God's own nature. However, even more essential to God's internal nature is heart; the ability and impulse to love. This is why we say "God is love" because love is the direct expression of God's most essential nature, his heart.

But what is love, and what is heart? For love to manifest, it requires an object of love. A man loves his wife. Parents love their children. Gardeners love their gardens. Some guys (and gals) love their cars. Etc. Love only manifests in the world when there is an object of love. Love is the emotional impulse to give to that object, to invest in it, to see that object thrive, be happy, grow, benefit, etc. This is the true nature of love. What is the most profound, powerful love? It is the love of a parent for his or her child. A parent will give up their life and sacrifice themselves for the sake of the life of their child.

(Fallen or corrupted love is a completely different story, for another time!)

So imagine God, the absolute consciousness with unbounded, unlimited love, before the creation. Who or what could God love? There was only him. Only God.

This then, is the purpose of creation. God created humanity as his children, his object of love. When God created humanity, then God found his own true nature as our Father. God created the man (Adam) and the woman (Eve) as the perfect and ultimate expression of his own nature in the material world, children who have the capacity just as he does, to love, to give, to find beauty in an object. The more the object reflects one's own nature, the more profound the expression and experience of love, and joy through love.

God created the entire universe as the home for his children, comprised of all the elements that would be required by his children, scaled into three distinct 'kingdoms': the animal, the plant and the mineral kingdoms. As human beings, we are comprised of the elements of the material world, we grow and interact with our environment like plants, bearing seeds and 'fruit', and our bodies also embody an instinctual nature, like animals. But we are different from all these because we have consciousness. We have emotions to feel, intellect to know, and will to desire and drive us. And most important of all, we have a heart, an inherent nature that seeks to give love and be loved and experience joy in love.

And, like all living creatures, we are created to pass through a growing process from the point of conception into full maturity. Plants start out as seeds, for example, then pass through a growing period until they mature and bear fruit aka reproduce. To reproduce, they must grow to that maturity. Animals are conceived by mating between the male and the female, and then grow over time to maturity, after which they can then reproduce. Until the plant matures enough, it must survive. Until the animal matures enough, it is usually protected and nurtured by its parent(s).

Our bodies grow in the same way. We are conceived, then born after gestation, and then over time we grow. We learn, our bodies mature, until after puberty we can then reproduce. However, we reach real physical maturity AFTER the puberty period, around the age or 20 or 21.

In the material world of plants, animals and our physical bodies, the growth is automatic. Add water, sunlight, nutrients and food, plus activity (photosynthesis in plants, behavior in animals and our physical bodies) and these will automatically grow and reach maturity.

However, that unique aspect of ours, our spirit, our heart and mind, the growth of these is NOT automatic. They require something additional. We are endowed with that something that needs to be activated in order for our heart and spirit to grow. That something is choice, aka our responsibility.

Why? Because if God our Father has choice and creativity, plus the responsibility that goes with it, we also need to have that, for us to truly be his children and to be the embodiment of his nature. This is why God had to create humanity with responsibility and choice; so that we would reflect his nature and become the perfect object of his love.

What does this all mean? It means, we are created to grow our hearts and minds aka our capacity to give and receive love, by maturing out hearts, AND, to do that, we have to make the right choices during the period that we grow from immaturity to maturity. This is why God gave 'Adam' and 'Eve' the commandment: (do not eat x). That commandment actually endowed them with responsibility. Choose the right way, believe in what I am teaching you, and you will grow fully into complete life, the perfection of your spirit wherein you reflect my nature perfectly (aka the Tree of Life). But if you disbelieve what I tell you and eat that x, you will die.

It was not a test, it was not a trial. It was the loving guidance of a father educating his children on what they had to do and what to not do in order to grow to fulfill their created purpose. Well, we know they chose to disbelieve their father and the choice they made brought about destruction and separation from God and destroyed their (and our) capacity to grow fully and properly in the spirit. The connection with 'Satan' that was established caused a rift within, so that the seed in our heart from God was now at conflict with a false seed planted by 'the serpent', so that our minds of bodies embodied conflict, between good and evil inside us. And our ability to fulfill the purpose God created us for was demolished.

To be continued....