So far as I can see, there is only one ability I can exercise on my own. Everything else can be considered a gift from God. What is that one thing? Love. Love to mean anything cannot be forced. It must be voluntary to mean anything. We all have different abilities and gifts; but we can all choose to love. Everything else may fail us, but we can still choose the path of love.Coming at this from another direction . . .
I think that God made man in this way in order to give us a certain depth and breadth of experience in life, and that for the purposed that we could come to understand what love is. Love is joy for us, and is pleasing to our Creator. God is love, and tells us to trust Him, and to love. So I think this realm exists for the purpose that we may live in it in such a way so that we can truly come to know the nature and goodness and love of our creator.
This creation, and in being a new creation, gives such a rich tapestry so that we can come to know Him.
Even in the sinfulness of the fall His righteousness still shines, and more brightly. And we know shine, because we have small minds that are dazzled by bright and beautiful lights.
Could He have done this a different way? I imagine. Though the angels, living in the unseen realm, don't seem to have the same sort of life, or possibilities, as we have. Personally, I think it was Satan's envy once he saw God's intent for man that caused him to rebel. "Not them, me! I will be like God!"
God is making us to become like Him. So for some reason this way works best.
If we choose love, we are automatically becoming more like God in that way; and I think God also likes to reward us with other things. If He sees us using the gifts He's already given us well, He's apt to give us more gifts. The Jews have a saying that the reward we get from God for good deeds are chances to do more good deeds.
Let me go back to what God says in Genesis, "It is not good for the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him." I think there is a clue there about why God made man. If God is Love, we can see that surely God would not be content to be alone. He would want others to love,
so I believe God created man to love. There was no guarantee though that men and women would return that love. God, being Love, did it anyway. God would love mankind no matter what. If men rejected God, God would hide from them. He would not force His Love on them. If people get the idea God doesn't care or that God isn't really Love, they have a misconception about God.
Surely sooner or later, someone would choose not to love God, would choose another path; but God had a plan ready for that. I don't think He would have created man without such a back up plan for when things went wrong. However I think things went wrong too early. The world might be a much better place today if Adam and Eve had obeyed, leaving someone in the future to sin. I don't know.
You mention people becoming more like God. I think that's right; and I also think everyone who chooses the path of Love and becomes more like God is proving God was right in how He made man. God did not make an unfixable mistake creating man. When we choose correctly, we do become more like God -- and the more we do that, the easier it is to choose the right in the future. When we choose incorrectly, we suffer -- and that is meant as a wake-up call that something is wrong. Such mistakes are not eternal. We need to do is change our minds and repent. "Oops, that was a bad idea -- I won't do that again."
Why then do we suffer when others sin? That doesn't seem fair, does it? But I assert it is very fair if we are guilty ourselves of being selfish. If I want to be in a world where I can steal money from someone and have him suffer, it's very fair if I find myself in such a world where others can do the same thing to me. Oh, how some people love to complain about the injustices of the world sometimes, as if it was God's fault. What sinner has the right to complain about what kind of world he's in? The person who breaks the Golden Rule ought to see that and thank God for putting him in a world where he can disobey the Golden Rule since that's the kind of world he wants.
The solution I see is if we are tired of a world that allows us to break the Golden Rule because it's not fun anymore, then we are ready for a better world. The only way out that I can see is to obey the Golden Rule. I think God takes great pleasure in every saint that does it, when He sees one of His children turning out right. "Pleasure" may seem like an odd word -- I picked it up in Revelation.
Revelation 4:11 Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.
Yes, we may all be tempted to be selfish in ways that injure others; but we can also learn that that damages us too -- perhaps more than it damages them. If I steal money from you, what did you lose? You may not like it and it may cause you grief; but what did I lose? My soul? I probably injured myself worse than I injured you.
Matthew 16:26 For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?
I believe what we call "sin" is damaging to ourselves. Until we are willing to give up sin, God looks at us with hope and pity. The only safe path is to obey the Golden Rule and become more like God by loving others.