Why did God create Satan?

Thoughtful question. The "why" questions of God ("why did God do this," "why is God this," etc.) are among the hardest to answer because you always take a great risk when you try to answer for someone else, even if they're not God. I actually think the answer as to why God created Satan is very much wrapped up in the answer to why God created us.

The Bible actually tells us very little about Satan for probably the same reasons it tells us little about angels (see "How did God get the Angels?"). It's not my desire to go deeply into a biblical discussion of Satan and the demonic at this point, but I will address what is necessary to answer the question.

One of the inferences made about Satan and the other angels is that they, like us, have the freedom to choose between right and wrong, good and evil, God's way and our own way. Revelation 12:4 says that Satan took a third of the angels with him. Now, if you take the time to look up the passage, you'll see that it says that the dragon swept away a third of the stars. Dragon? Stars? Didn't I say angels? I did, but one of the metaphors for angels in Revelation is stars. If we read ahead to verse 9, we also see that the dragon is, in fact, Satan.

Because Satan is able to take a third of the angels with him, because he is able to deceive them as well, we understand that even angels are faced with the same responsibility as we are to choose God. While some Christian traditions deny the possibility of free will, it seems to be an essential component of a loving God who creates beings to enjoy fellowship with Him.

If God creates beings who can only love him, is their love genuine? I would say not. Love is only genuine because of the possibility to not love. If there is no choice, there is no love. When God created the angels (including Satan) and us, He did it knowing that there would be those of us who would reject Him. Yet He also did it knowing that there would be those who would embrace their Creator in a true, loving relationship.

The question is not so much, "Why did God create Satan?" so much as it is, "Why did God create beings who could choose not to love and follow Him?" He created beings with the potential for evil because of their potential for good.

Think about it. Jesus left the mission of the Kingdom to, among others, a few ex-fisherman, a former tax collector, and a revolutionary. He did it knowing that they would have to overcome their own shortcomings as well as struggle against demonic forces, but He gave them the Holy Spirit so that love, peace, and restored relationship with God could be taken to all people everywhere. God will win over Satan and evil once and for all, and He will do it with those who choose to love Him, angels and humans alike.