I  was recently introduced to a Filipino saying that means something like
“You would forsake heaven and tread the depths of hell to follow your own wishes”, which I instantly recognised as  perfectly applicable to myself.

I also recalled the quote that “The reasonable man adapts himself to the world, the unreasonable man adapts the world to himself. All progress is therefore made by the unreasonable man”

In one of the James Bond  films Bomd accuses Blofeld of being obsessional. Blofeld agrees and claims that had he not been obsessional he would have achieved nothing.

Most monotheistic religions claim their god wants humans to submit to them entirely, and gave humans free will in order that they might voluntarily surrender it. To me this does not make sense.   Others claim that the ultimate goal of spiritual development is union with God and loss of identity, which looks to me like  the ultimate deathwish. And  that left me thinking of the Christian Devil and it's counterparts in other religions.

The intriguing speculation I came up with is that the Devil is, ignoring the demonic aspects later appplied to them ( most of which. perhaps all, are not  as far as I know supported  by the Bible) what God wanted Man to be.

Think about it from the point of view of a God. You have a universe to run. You create beings with free will  and  keep an eye on what they do.  Do you   want subservient beings who do exactly what they are told and constantly ask you want to do and what they are doing wrong? Or do you want beings who will become independent and equal in all but perhaps power? Who can engage with you and help you develop?

In the Bible Lucifer (probably a different being from the Satan of the Book of Job who  was allowed by a thoroughly morally bankrupt Yahweh to persecute Job  or the tempter of the New Testament who is more like an army sergeant trying to see how far he can safely push each of his squad) disagreed with god and was thrown out  of heaven.   Well that is what happens if you give free will, you have  to expect disagreement.

So is the Devil, tricky, ornery, independent, with a sense of humour at times a perhaps distorted idea of what God wanted man to be? Is the emphasis on submission merely  device invented by control freak priests wanting to manipulate a populace who  otherwise might not support the priests with money and food and worse might force them to do some productive work?

You decide.