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Why is opposition necessary? We, persons, cannot have consciousness of a thing or a truth except that it is known by its opposite.  For nothing in this universe can be realized or have definition except by its necessary opposite. So the way life functions, the way things are manifested, and the consciousness we gain all unfolds to us by a dialectic process of one swallowing up the other in order to gain realization.

For example: Light can only be seen by “swallowing up” darkness (IICor.5:6); Sweetness can only be appreciated by tasting  bitter;  hot is experienced by feeling cold;  our decisive “yes” gets its strength and is birthed into being by swallowing up its opposite “no”; electricity functions by the interaction of protons and electrons. This dialectic process goes right on down to our personal experiences:  Children know not to touch a hot stove because they have learned by experiencing that it burns; A child will not go into a busy street because he has learned the difference between safe, and not safe.  As Christians we only know God’s wonderful grace because we have known our wretched sinful selves. We also know liberation because we have known law-bound bondage; We know Christ in us, because we have known Satan in us…So exploring one is fully realizing the other.
 
Taken from: “God Only” by Sylvia Pearce. See the full article on her website.