I love it, Benjamin. I am glad you pronounce this side of the debate. Still, you did not delve one level deeper that is nevertheless vital to all of us:
God had to use something to create creation while there wasn't anything else laying around. Conclusion: God had to use (parts of) God to create creation.
Only children would have God escape unscathed. Children start with one assumption (God), which adults can indeed accept, but then they follow it up with a second assumption (creation as something from nothing). Adults must reject that option because this setup contains then two assumptions in a row, which makes it illogical to have occurred that way. The structure of the storyline is immature, very weak.
Another option would be to declare that God in God's entirety would have been used up for creation. While that is more logical than the first option, it also contains a flaw. When 100% of God becomes the result, then the 100% result would return to the original state within seconds. It is not possible to be in an altered state for 100% of what then was an original state and not return to the true foundation quickly (not when all was still intact at God's level in the secondary state of 100%).
So, we can only agree that God will have been reduced in God's stature. God had to feel apart into pieces that materialized and pieces that remained in their original state. We therefore have a God 1.0 that became God 2.0 (next to the resulting material outcome) some 13.8 billion years ago.
There are no other options available, and I need to declare therefor that you did not mention any imperfections about that God 2.0.
You are mentioning how through energy that is contained within creation there are the higher results and ideals forthcoming over time that we ourselves prefer to see in creation. Excellent conclusion, well said.
Yet, we must then take that to reality and test that. Then, it turns out that people are collectively not that smart. Their internal mechanisms that helped them propel to the top in Earth's natural setting, also contain the downfall. The prophecy is then that we have a chance to overcome our own selfishness and stupidity, and we must then indeed as you declare not oversell God as the goody-goodness that is the final game in which we find eternal bliss.
The fact that God shot godself in the foot (some 13.8 billion years ago) must not be swept under the rug. We are the results of God dispersing all universal energy at that point and, when we do not collect ourselves and face the mirror, we will do the same that God did 13.8 billion years ago: ending up shooting ourselves in the foot, destroying our planet and ourselves, or in lesser words bring misery to ourselves.
Thank you for this excellent article that missed just one essential aspect about God and a major lesson we must learn. We are here because of a fallible act that lies underneath our existence.
Here is an old article of mine:
'What God Used to Create Creation'
https://medium.com/carre4/what-god-used-to-create-creation-8f4e2c1e85e9
