The same rule applies. God did not intend to create a man in His image who was pre-programmed to love Him back. He created man with a free will of his own, so that if he freely chose to love God back, he could. That is true love. You guy doesn’t force a girl to love him back, she has to fall in love with him of her own free will. He can woo her and stuff like that, but ultimately she is the one making the choice in how she is going to respond. In like manner, God is not a cosmic rapist. He is not going to force His love on us, He desires us to love him back and respond to His love, His wooing, of our own free will.
But the price to pay in God giving us this free will, it gives us the opportunity to reject Him. Even the opportunity to deny Him. God knew that from the very beginning. But free will is greater. It is worth the price, for without it, we cannot truly love God or one another. We would just be robots and fembots.
Whatever is but might not be is dependent on what is and cannot not be.
