This is an excellent question because of the first ten words of the Bible. God created the heavens and the universe and everything in it. John 1:1-3 tells us, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.” John tells us that all of creation, including created beings such as Satan, came through God’s creation. So, God created an evil being? No. That would be against God’s nature and essence, which is holy and good. There is nothing sinful in God; He is entirely Holy (Lev. 19:1-2; 1 Sam 2.2; Rev. 4:8). So what happened?
The Bible actually gives us very little regarding Satan. What we do have, we have to piece together through the Scriptures of different books of the Bible. When creation opens up in Genesis, the serpent is already in the Garden of Eden (Gen 3:1). So we know he has been there since the beginning. We know that Satan stands against God, God’s creation, and the relationship between the Creator and His creation.[1] Peter refers to the devil as an “enemy” (1 Pet. 5:8). The prophet Zechariah describes Joshua as standing with the angel of the Lord, with Satan as his accuser at his right side (Zech. 3:1). So Satan is an enemy, accuser, opposer, and thief who comes only to kill, steal, and destroy (John 10:10). He tempts humanity into walking away from God through sin (1 Thess. 3:5). Lying is his native tongue, he is a murderer, and the deceiver of the world (John 8:44; Rev. 12:9). But was this always the case? What about his origins?
Satan, or Lucifer, was not created evil. Paul Little writes, “God created angels perfect, and they were originally uncorrupted in spirit . . . they had free will and were susceptible to temptation and sin. How sin could have come into the experience of a perfect creature is a mystery, but that it actually happened is clear.”[2] God did not create any evil angels, but we can see the consequences for angels who disobeyed God (Jude 6). While we do not know exactly when this happened, it likely included Satan. Jesus tells us He saw Satan cast out from Heaven and fall like lightning (Luke 10:18).
To piece this together, we have to look into the Old Testament with an eye toward references to prophecy that seem to have a deeper meaning than can be applied only to a human. Not all scholars accept the following interpretations of these passages. However, some scholars attribute these passages to describing earthly kings while also overtly describing what is likely Satan. It is like a dual prophecy regarding the spiritual power behind the king of Babylon and the king of Tyre. Walter Kaiser Jr. writes, “. . . the prophet uses a device that is found often in prophetic texts: he links near and distant prophecies together under a single sense, or meaning, since the two entities, though separated in space and time, are actually part and parcel of each other.”[3] These kings were very wicked and evil, so the connection seems on target with the claim.
Satan was blameless initially (Ezek. 28:15). He was a glorious creation, made near perfection, magnificently beautiful, and full of wisdom (Ezek. 28:12). However, unrighteousness was found in him (Ezek. 28:15). The Bible describes Satan’s first sin as pride (Ezek. 28:17). God did not cause him to sin; he made his own choice. For that, he was cast out of Heaven (Isa. 14:12-15; Luke 10:18). He was so glorious he wanted God’s worship for himself. He wanted to be like God. He wanted to be God. You could say he tried to kick God off his throne and take his place. He persuaded about one-third of the angels to go with him in his rebellion (Rev. 12:3-4). You can imagine how God felt about it. He rebelled and was cast or pushed out of Heaven.
[1] Paul E. Little and Marie Little, Know what You Believe (Westmont: InterVarsity, 2009), 158.
[2] Ibid.
[3] Walter C. Kaiser Jr., Hard Sayings of the Bible (Downers Grove: InterVarsity, 1996), 303.
Bibliography
Kaiser Jr., Walter C. Hard Sayings of the Bible. Downers Grove: InterVarsity, 1996.
Little, Paul E. and Marie Little. Know what You Believe. Westmont: InterVarsity, 2009.