Did God create Satan?

God created everything (John 1:3). This includes physical beings and matter as well as spiritual beings (Colossians 1:15–17). The only person who has the power of being in and of Himself—the only One with no beginning or ending—is God. He is self-existent (Exodus 3:14). All other beings were created by God and belong to God (Psalm 24:1), and this includes the being we call Satan.

When we say that God created Satan, we do not mean that God created sin. All that God made, including the angelic being who later became known as Satan, was “very good” (Genesis 1:31). God is not the author of sin, and He did not make Satan sinful. God is holy and does not create anything that is contrary to His own nature (Psalm 86:8–10; 99:1–3; Isaiah 40:25; 57:15).

The Bible’s references to the king of Babylon and the king of Tyre in Isaiah 14:12–15 and Ezekiel 28:13–17, respectively, are considered by most scholars as types or figures of Satan. These two passages give us a bit of history concerning Satan and his origins. Isaiah 14:12 says Satan’s beginnings were in heaven. The Ezekiel 28 passage says Satan was created (verse 13) and that he was one of the cherubim (verse 14). He was “blameless” until sin was found in him (Ezekiel 28:15).

The Bible describes the root of Satan’s sin as pride (Ezekiel 28:17). Before Satan was expelled from heaven, he must have been very beautiful (Ezekiel 28:12). Scripture does not say exactly how Satan came to be sinful, but it does say that he was not always sinful: “You were blameless in all you did from the day you were created until the day evil was found in you” (Ezekiel 28:15, NLT). Satan’s sin was of his own doing, and he was judged (Ezekiel 28:16–18).

So, while it is correct to say God created Satan, it’s incorrect to say that God created the sin within Satan. Satan chose his own course (Isaiah 14:13). God never causes sin (James 1:13), even though He has created a world where sin is possible. Someday God is going to put an end to Satan and all sin (Revelation 20:10). The fallen angels, including Satan, will be confined to everlasting punishment.