One factor we have mentioned in understanding the presence of evil and suffering within God’s creation is the role of Satan. As we stated last week, man has yielded his position as “ruler of this world” (Gen 1:26) over to the devil (John 12:31; 2 Cor 4:4). Satan is now pictured as the instigator of evil and suffering within the universe. He is the tempter and the tormenter (Job 2:7; 2 Cor 12:7; Acts 10:38).
We have discussed why God would permit such evil activity to continue. His longsuffering nature gives man hope. His assurance of eternal victory over our foe gives man peace as he sojourns through enemy territory for the time being.
Yet, why did God allow such a malevolent being to infiltrate His creation in the first place? Where did Satan come from? Admittedly, the scriptures do not give us a complete answer to these questions, but neither does it leave us completely in the dark. Let’s take a moment to examine what can be known about Satan’s origin.
First, we can know that God did not create Satan as an evil or malevolent being. All that God created was very good (Gen 1:31). James warns us not to be deceived into thinking that God is the source of any evil or temptation. He assures us that “every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow” (Jas 1:13-17).
Yet neither is Satan some eternally coexistent rival to God. When Paul tells us that by Jesus, “all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities” (Col 1:16), certainly the devil would be included in that description. And Satan is certainly subject to the power and authority of God as his creator (Job 1-2). His knowledge and power cannot be put on equal plane with the omniscience and omnipotence of God.
So, as God created man a good and pure being that was later corrupted by the misuse of his free-will, we must conclude that Satan followed a similar path of perdition. And the scriptures confirm such suspicions. Paul tells us that an elder must not be a “new convert, so that he will not become conceited and fall into the condemnation incurred by the devil” (1 Tim 3:9). Clearly Satan in his conceit, rebelled against God and thus fell into condemnation.
Satan could be identified as one of the “angels who did not keep their own domain, but abandoned their proper abode” (Jude 1:6). This would make sense considering that Satan presented himself to God among the angels or “sons of God” in Job 1:6 (cf. 38:7). Yet, one cannot definitively present this conclusion from the scriptures.
What we can affirm is that God did not create Satan as a malevolent being. As tenacious as his wickedness may be, it has been a product of his own choosing. Such deep-seated rebellion is what one would expect from one who authored evil and has continued to pursue it through all the ages.