Why does evil and Satan exist in the first place?
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Evil exists because good exists, and because God has created us in His image, including giving us the free will to choose.

Why Does Evil Exist?

If only good existed, do we have free will? No. Without evil there is no choice and thus no free will. And without free will there can be no love.

If I lock you in a cell and then tell you that you can go anywhere you want to go, can you actually go anywhere you want to go? No. You are locked in the cell. You no longer have a free choice. You can only go where I decide you should go. That's not free will. That's prison.

Why is there no love without free will? What is love unless it is freely chosen? If I hold a gun at someone's head and tell them, "Love me." and they say, "I love you.", is that truly love? Of course not.

For us to love, we have to be able to choose not to love. God had to give us free will so we could choose to love or not to love.

And for us to have free will, the choice to freely choose good or evil must exist... or we don't have free will.

Why Does Satan Exist?

Satan was created by God as the most beautiful and greatest of all angels (Isaiah 28:14). He had an incredible potential for love and for doing good, far beyond what we can imagine. But this also means he had an unthinkable potential for doing evil.

At some point Satan made a choice. He chose evil. He chose to oppose God... disobey God instead of obeying God. Just as we do when we disobey God, Satan chose to make himself a god in his own eyes. Just as we do when we turn our backs on God, Satan considers himself to be greater than God the creator of the universe.

Satan exists because in a universe in which good exists, the potental for evil also exists, otherwise there would be no free will. The greater the good, the greater is the potential of evil.

God Uses All Things For Good...

Do you know the story of Joseph? His older brothers envied him and sold him into slavery in Egypt. Then they told their father that Joseph was dead. That seems like a very evil thing to do. Yet years later this is what Joseph told his brothers:

"You meant evil against me; but God meant it for good." - Genesis 50:20

In Romans 8:28 tells us that although evil may come into our lives and cause us problems, we can be assured that "God causes all things to work together for good tothose who love God, to those who are called according to his purpose." (NASB)

Long ago when my daughter was young and she did something wrong, I sometimes sent her to her room. She saw this as being a very evil thing and she let me know that she thought I was evil. But what appeared to her to be evil, was in fact used for good.

We don't have the same perspective as God. He knows everything... past, present and future. He knows our thoughts and the thoughts of everyone else in the world. Nothing is hidden from God. So for us to look at God and blame Him for evil does not make sense. We do not have the knowledge or ability to understand God. We do, however, personally have the knowledge and ability to reduce the amount of evil and suffering in the world.

How do we reduce evil in the world? By getting evil out of our lives. By turning toward God and obeying God.

How do we reduce suffering in the world? By putting other's needs before our own desires. By loving others and acting on that love.