The human being’s greatest challenge—and greatest blessing—is to be born free. It is a challenge because we should know how to use our power correctly, so we do not fall into traps and errors that we ourselves manifest by not knowing how to choose well.
Because we are created beings, we are imperfect. Consequently, we can choose wrongly. Gentle and voluntary surrender to God’s spiritual Law gives us what we lack, in our human imperfection, when it comes to making choices—because it enables us to see the spiritual world that our physical eyes cannot see. In other words, it helps us choose what benefits us and serves us, and it also allows us to have a direct relationship with God.
In that way we are protected in everything and through everything. When we are transformed, we recover the power we lost, and the power of darkness yields before us. It may bother us. It may place stones in our path. It may, for a time, put a stick in the wheel to try to stop our destiny. But it cannot win unless we allow it to. The Word of God has already declared that we will crush the serpent’s head. That means victory has been granted.
When our first parents underwent the transformation from spirit to matter, we were completely diminished from the astonishing capacities of spiritual power. Fallen spiritual beings could destroy us entirely without divine protection. But we are protected by the Covenant.
“He who dwells in the shadow of the Most High abides under the protection of the Almighty.”
The Alliance is like the Shadow of the Most High. The promise of the Psalm continues, saying:
“Because you trusted in the LORD and made the Most High your refuge, no evil will befall you, no disaster will come near your home; for He will command His angels to protect you wherever you go. They will lift you up in their hands so that no stone will injure your foot.”
And it says even more:
“‘I will save him, because he loves me; I will protect him, because he acknowledges my name. He will call on me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will rescue him and honor him. I will satisfy him with long life and show him my salvation.’”
This is part of your inheritance. This is what belongs to you. You have an unsurpassable power in God. You are His offspring. You are part of God’s genealogy.
We can misuse the freedom we have when we choose what does not benefit us. Let us return to the beginning. Our first parents used their freedom incorrectly. They chose what did not benefit them and involved their descendants in a very, very great problem. It is not the material world that rules us, though many believe that. It is the world that cannot be seen physically.
God’s Law provides us with the sight we need in order to see it—its traps, its schemes, its deceptions, its falsehoods, and everything that belongs to the work of shadows. We are gentle as doves in our submission to the voice of God, but wise as the serpent in recognizing and overcoming its games. Whoever voluntarily chooses to obey the Voice of God has a great advantage over the one who does not, because that person can see what truly pulls the strings of the human drama. Therefore, they take refuge under the shelter of Light. Where there is Light, darkness cannot enter.
The exercise of our freedom is completed when we freely choose to submit to the Voice of God, expressed through spiritual commandments that do not limit our freedom but channel it toward good and toward purpose. Once we surrender to that Voice, we can act with full freedom of action in our life and on the earth, knowing that our decisions are in harmony with what is truly good for us and for the society in which we live. The only truly free or autonomous being is the One we call God. It would have been unjust for Him to create beings with freedom of choice without also giving them the help of His Law as guidance so they could choose what benefits them. His Law gives us what we lack because we are created beings.
It is a blessing because that freedom makes us autonomous from improper subjugations. Free will can give us the illusory sense that we are gods without being so. In the scale of authority there is no one above God, but above us is He—whether we like it or not, whether we believe it or not. This was the illusion that deceived Eve: she believed she could be like God, without God.
We need the divine Source to reach likeness with God and the ability to choose well for our own gain or interest, because we are created beings. Nevertheless, we are free to reject Him. We can influence our destiny, but only if we remain obedient to His spiritual commandments. Those commandments point to good and separate us from evil, and we must not ignore them if we enter His Covenant through voluntary reconciliation.
Resisting or opposing God’s precepts—even while exercising the right of freedom—leads to a form of spiritual bondage. This bondage is comparable to that of an addict who cannot free himself from his addiction because it subdues him. He is not free, because he has surrendered his will to something external that dominates him: the drug. From the beginning of the transgression, and following ancient rules of war, humanity fell under the power of the one who defeated it. In the same way, addiction defeats and dominates the addict. With God, however, we have the freedom to reach our purposes, as long as our desires are aligned with good. This freedom has a clear boundary: to live in integrity. God will bless us abundantly—far more than we imagine—if we are gentle with Him. We are free beings, but created so as not to perish in error.
The central issue of freedom lies in choosing the right path. To guide us, God gave us His Word, which illuminates our path and prevents us from stumbling. It is a lighthouse in the middle of storms, assuring us that if we trust Him, we will reach the desired port. The Word of God is the support to which the shipwrecked cling so they do not perish in the vast sea of human life. Evil already existed before the creation of the human being, and His commandments guide us to choose correctly.
The Spanish poet Antonio Machado wrote: “Traveler, there is no road; the road is made by walking.” This phrase reflects the reality that our decisions and actions build the path we walk. However, more important than making the road is knowing where we are headed. The direction we take defines our destiny, and a road without a clear purpose can become an empty path. With God, we make the road by walking, but we do so with a purpose: to be filled with blessings and to advance in freedom toward our spiritual and material goals and to fulfill our destiny. Although we share a collective destiny—to overcome evil and collaborate so that the will of God is done on earth as it is in heaven—each of us has a different destiny of fullness and blessing.
When God created the human being, He granted the gift of freedom—a gift that must be handled with wisdom. This freedom requires spiritual and emotional maturity to make decisions that lead to spiritual and material prosperity. Our first parents violated the command given for their protection and crossed into the territory of the knowledge of evil. Since then, we are born with the freedom to choose between two paths. God is concerned with saving our souls because He knows the terrible destiny that awaits us if we take the wrong path. The direction we choose on the road we walk determines our life on earth and our destiny beyond it.
There are two spiritual paths with opposite destinations. One is clear and exposed to the light, without divine manipulation; the other, a crude imitation, deceives our senses and leads to domination. Though it may appear attractive and give an illusion of freedom, it is only a deception that subjugates us.
The choice we make gives power to the creator of the path we choose. If we surrender our submission to God, we know we are in good hands and that we will be abundantly rewarded. But if we choose the opposite path, we will be repaid in a very different way. God’s rules are light and His dominion is gentle, while the path of darkness is a heavy burden from which we cannot free ourselves unless we choose the light.
Laws—both in the spiritual realm and in the earthly realm—exist to impose order and protection. The kingdom of darkness has no protective rules; it is chaos and anarchy. Choosing that path inevitably leads to spiritual servitude, while God’s path affirms our freedom. Even so, we are free to choose servitude or freedom.
The author of Ecclesiastes wrote:
“There is hope for anyone who is among the living, because a living dog is better than a dead lion. For the living know they will die, but the dead know nothing; they have no further reward, and even their memory is forgotten.”
This wise man, though very wise, found no answer about life after death. That is, he did not believe there was life beyond it. He wrote:
“Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might; for in Sheol, where you are going, there is no work, no planning, no knowledge, and no wisdom.”
His wisdom did not lead him to understand the hope of immortality and the reason he was alive. Nor did he understand that man’s unhappy path was not God’s work, but the result of man’s own choices.
I would like to share a dream I had after my mother’s death. She lived in my country of origin, and I lived in the United States. We spoke often by phone about spiritual topics, and although I always believed physical death is not the end, I did not have clarity about what it would be like afterward. In one conversation, I expressed my fear of losing my identity after death.
When my mother passed away, I had a dream in which I saw her with my godfather—her brother—both young and very happy. They were in the kitchen of a house. My uncle was sitting beside the table, and my mother was standing, leaning against the kitchen sink. They were speaking with great joy and enthusiasm. They looked full of life and happiness. When I woke up, I knew God had shown me that there is something tangible after death. I remembered Jesus’ words:
“In the Kingdom there are many dwellings, and I go to prepare them so that you may live there.”
Immortality already exists in our spirit, because what is born of the spirit does not die. Our earthly body, by contrast, is a temporary covering so that our spirit may be redeemed. God explained to Adam that, by His mercy, He did not turn him into eternal darkness after the transgression, but gave him a body of flesh to live on earth until the fulfillment of the promise of redemption.
God’s purpose in giving us a material body was to allow our spirits to reach redemption while we inhabit this world. The conversion from light to darkness would have been definitive spiritual death. Instead, God gave us the opportunity to be redeemed, reminding us that our true self—the spirit—does not die. This should concern us, because the eternity of our spirit depends on the choices we make.
Choosing to walk in God’s ways and practice righteousness leads to spiritual immortality when we leave this mortal body. The flame of eternity is already in our spirit, but the redemption of our being depends on submission to God. If our first parents had not transgressed, we would be perpetual light; but by His mercy, we still have the opportunity to choose the light.
When God decided to create man with freedom, He knew it would be a risk. Humanity’s disobedience created an imbalance, but it also opened the way for redemption. In spiritual terms, there are two paths, and we must choose one.
Humanity listened to the voice of darkness, and for that reason we are born under the tyranny of what does not benefit us and makes us suffer. But God, in His love for us, offers liberation through forgiveness and the transformation of our nature. Salvation is a gift from the Creator, received if we accept it. The decision is ours.
The choice that benefits us is the one that leads us to depend voluntarily on the Voice of God, allowing us to live with spiritual and material fullness in the world we inhabit. Our spiritual decisions determine not only where we will go after the physical death of the body, but also the destiny we will live in this life. By aligning ourselves with His spiritual Law, we find a path of abundance here and now, where purpose, justice, and peace guide our daily actions.
God does not invite us to a life of deprivation, but to a full life—one in which dependence on His spiritual guidance opens the doors to living with purpose and enjoying both the richness of the spirit and the material blessings that come from walking with Him. Our freedom reaches its highest potential when we choose what truly benefits us: to follow the path that connects us to the divine Source of life and well-being.