The Origin Of Satan

“Where did Satan come from?” is the first question raised by Satan’s appearance in the Garden of Eden. Genesis chapter one describes God’s creation of the material universe and its living inhabitants. But it mentions nothing about a being like Satan.

The Bible clearly indicates that God populated the spiritual realm with beings of the highest intelligence, called angels. “Praise Him, all His angels; Praise Him, all His hosts! Let them praise the name of the LORD, For He commanded and they were created. He also established them forever and ever; He made a decree which shall not pass away” (Psalms 148:1, 6). There are two theories concerning the existence of Satan: 1) Satan was created by God as an evil influence to tempt and test mankind upon this earth; or 2) Satan was created by God as a spiritual being or angel with all the glory and honor of heaven, but he sinned against God because of pride and was therefore cast from Heaven and God’s presence.

The scriptures indicate that angels have the freedom of choice to obey or disobey God. “For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to hell and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment”(2 Peter 2:4). Angels, like all of God’s creation, are capable of error. The angels’ former rank, their dignity, nor their holiness, saved them from being thrust down to torment. The freedom of their own freedom to choose was the cause of the angels’ sin, and their sin the cause of their misery. “The angels who did not keep their proper domain, but left their own abode, He has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment of the great day” (Jude 1:6). This passage implies that angels invaded the office or dignity of another and by so doing some forfeited their own position with God. They did not continue in faithfulness, though they knew the law on which they stood. This is an example of God's severity on the fallen angels; they sinned, and kept not their first state, they fell from that state of holiness in which they were originally created; and their punishment followed, they were cast down to a place of torment, and delivered into chains of darkness, reserved unto judgment.

It appears from the scripture that Satan was one of these fallen angels who chose to disobey God. “So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him” (Revelation 12:9). Jesus Christ said, “He said to them, "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven” (Luke 10:18). What was the sin of Satan and when and how did the Devil fall? The answer to these questions is known only by God and Satan. Pride and ambition were probably the sins which caused Satan’s fall. This is sufficiently evident from Paul’s warnings to Timothy about being lifted up with pride and “fall into the same condemnation as the devil” (1Timothy 3:6 NKJV).

There is nothing in the Word of God that would cause us to believe that the loving God of the Bible would create a being specifically to do evil and tempt mankind. This theory is inconsistent with our God described in the Bible. It appears that Satan is a fallen angel that God permits to test and try mankind upon this earth. The test and trials of Satan provide mankind the freedom of choice and the opportunity to demonstrate love and devotion to the Creator.