The entire architecture of creation, every world, every angel, every concealment of divine light, exists for one purpose: so that a human being in a physical body can choose to turn the darkness into light.
Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi describes three massive "contractions" of God's infinite light, each giving rise to an entire world. From Atzilut (אצילות), which is pure Godliness, comes the contraction that creates Beriah (בריאה), the world of higher souls and intellectual angels. From Beriah, another contraction creates Yetzirah (יצירה), the world of emotional angels. From Yetzirah, a final contraction creates Asiyah (עשייה), our world of physical action.
Each contraction is necessary because even the faintest light from the higher world would overwhelm the lower one. The diminished radiance of Beriah is still infinite relative to Yetzirah. And so on, all the way down.
But now apply the principle from Proverbs: "As water mirrors the face, so is the heart of man to man" (Proverbs 27:19). God has, as it were, set aside His great infinite light. He has stored it away behind three layers of concealment. He has, figuratively speaking, laid down everything for the sake of lowly human beings, out of love. "Love impels the flesh," the Talmud says (Bava Metzia 84a).
If God did all this for you, how much more should you be willing to set aside everything you possess, body, soul, money, comfort, even wife and children, in order to cleave to God without any hindrance?
This is the deeper reason behind the blessings recited before the Shema each morning. Those blessings describe the angels and the cosmic order. They are not preamble. They are preparation, showing you the full scope of what God contracted for your sake, so that when you declare "Hear O Israel," you know exactly what you are responding to.