WHY WOULD GOD CREATE LUCIFER?

If God knew that Lucifer would rebel, why did He create him?

Although the Bible gives only a few hints regarding this question, it is still impossible to provide a fully satisfactory answer to it in its entirety. This subject has not been addressed explicitly and in sufficient depths in the Bible. Typically, such questions carry within them a concern that God might somehow be associated with the origin of sin and evil in the world. Here are a few points to consider in relation to the limited biblical hints that offer some degree of response to this question:

1. What is the relationship between God and evil?

When it comes to the origin of sin and evil, the Bible does not support the doctrine known as monism—Monism teaches that God is the originator of both good and evil. However, we know that good and evil are two opposing principles that, since the emergence of evil, have been in constant conflict. A good place to begin is by recognizing that the Bible explicitly denies that sin and evil have existed eternally. Instead, it affirms that such phenomena had a beginning and will also have an end. Since God is eternal, and sin and evil are not eternal, we can conclude that sin and evil do not originate from God, nor do they have their source in Him. Someone else may ask: Is it possible that sin and evil did not exist eternally, but when God created, He created both good and evil together, and therefore both are part of God's creative activity? The biblical answer is clear: Everything that God created "was very good" (Genesis 1:31). Moreover, the Bible teaches that: "He is the Rock, His works are perfect, and all His ways are just. A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is He." (Deuteronomy 32:4). This confirms that when God created, He did not create evil, and He cannot, in any way, be associated with its existence.

2. The Relationship Between God and Lucifer: What About Lucifer? 

Truth be told, God created Lucifer. The Bible presents three important facts about him: First, he is a created being; second, when God created him, he was without defect, rather he was “perfect”; and third, “wickedness was found in him” (Ezekiel 28:15). Scripture affirms both the goodness and perfection of God's creation (in creating Lucifer), while also recognizing that something evil eventually emerged within this being ("wickedness was found in you").

But does the latter part of the verse suggest that something evil may have been inherently present in Lucifer from the beginning, which only became apparent later? Here we are confronted with a mystery, or an enigma, whose answer would have to fully explain the very origin of sin. While the perfection of this cherub is clearly described as the result of God's creation, evil was not part of God’s plan. Evil entered as an intruder—without justification or cause.

Scripture does not explain how Lucifer transitioned from the holiness of character to allowing evil into his heart, and it is likely that God left this unexplained so that we may learn to trust Him based on what we do know of His loving character and His daily dealings with us.

A profound and inspired explanation is found in the book The Great Controversy, which states:

“There was no defect in God’s government that led to the rebellion of sin. Sin is an intruder, for whose presence no reason can be given. It is mysterious, unexplainable; to excuse it is to defend it. If it could be explained or shown to have a cause, it would cease to be sin. The only definition given in Scripture is: ‘sin is the transgression of the law’; it is the outworking of a principle at war with the law of love, which is the foundation of the divine government.” (The Great Controversy, p. 492.2)

Another thing we are told is that his beauty and wisdom became part of the reason for his downfall (Ezekiel 28:17). However, Scripture does not explain how he shifted from using his beauty and wisdom to glorify God, to using them in rebellion against Him. That remains a mystery for which we have not yet been given an answer.

What has been revealed is that God was not involved in initiating or causing evil to exist. And what is required of us now is to choose, freely and willingly, to trust and love Him—as a response from intelligent creatures—because of the love we see manifested toward us.
There are many matters that have not yet been explicitly explained, but the truths that have been revealed are fully sufficient for our salvation and are entirely adequate to build our faith in God.

3. Inquiring into the Mind of God: 

The fact that God knows all things may suggest that He knew in advance that Lucifer would eventually become Satan and the accuser. One may argue that since God is omnipotent, sin and evil exist because He permits them to exist. So why did He allow all of this to happen? Surely, that may be your question as well.

Some theologians have tried to distinguish between Lucifer’s nature and his will—what they attempt to say is that Lucifer was perfect, and the cause of his misuse of free will originated from something external to himself. However, this line of thinking tends to shift blame toward God, implying that He should have created Lucifer without the possibility of choosing sin.

In response, it is important to understand that Lucifer, in his original nature as created by God, was perfect (complete in every sense); but his will (his intellectual perfection), when misused, led to sin and evil. These were not the result of a flawed creation by God. God was responsible for the initial act of creating a perfect being—but not for the subsequent misuse of the freedom of choice. The misuse of Lucifer’s free will depended on—but was not determined by—the freedom that God had invested in His intelligent creatures.

Could God not have avoided all this by simply not creating Lucifer? The cost of such an action would have been unimaginably high. At some point in eternity, God chose to create intelligent, free beings. In His omniscience, He knew that one among them would rebel against Him. Should He then have changed His plan at that moment?
The natural human answer would be, “Yes!” We would abandon our plan out of fear of facing such a terrible crisis. By doing so, the anticipated crisis would have already defeated us—by forcing us to alter our purpose.

But God is not like us! Once He resolved to create, there was no real power or possibility that could force Him to change His plan. Otherwise, the fear of sin would have defeated Him before creation even began. God is fearless, and without altering His plan, He chose to confront and resolve the problem of sin and evil through Jesus Christ. Perhaps He thought this way—who can know?

What is essential is that He has promised to bring evil to an end, and it will never arise again throughout all eternity (Nahum 1:9).

It is important to guard our souls against certain states of doubt toward God that carry within them a spirit of inquiry beyond the boundaries of what has been revealed to us. What we currently know is entirely sufficient for our salvation.