Does GOD love Satan?

Does GOD Love Satan? Many critics love to ask Christians this question because it is supposedly designed to place the Christian at an awkward point of an apparent “checkmate” with no right answer. The critic typically follows this question by saying, “If GOD loves Satan, and Satan is evil, then GOD loves evil. But if GOD hates Satan, then GOD cannot be love because GOD hates.”

This question, however, is not a problem nor is it difficult to answer. To answer this question, we must go back to the beginning. In Genesis 1:31, it is written that “God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good.” And everything GOD creates is good because GOD is the definition of good (Psalm 106:1; 135:3; Nahum 1:7; Mark 10:18; John 3:16-17; Galatians 5:22; 2Thessalonians 1:11; Titus 3:4). Because everything comes from GOD and belongs to GOD (Psalm 24:1; 89:11; 1Corinthians 10:26), and because Satan is a fallen angelic being (Genesis 3:14-15; Job 1:6; Isaiah 14:12-15; Ezekiel 28:11-19; Matthew 25:41; Luke 10:18; 2Corinthians 11:14; Revelation 12:7-9), Satan was a creation of GOD. Thus, in the beginning, GOD called Satan good because he was a creation of GOD (Ezekiel 28:15). Further, to answer this question, we must understand GOD’s nature in that GOD is both love and mercy (John 3:16; 1John 4:8,16; Psalm 86:15; Luke 6:36), and Truth and justice (1Samuel 15:29; John 14:6; Romans 3:4; Acts 17:31; Revelation 20:12). In fact, GOD is Holy (Leviticus 11:44-45; 1John 1:5; Revelation 4:8; 15:4) and this is why GOD hates evil and commands us to also hate evil (Amos 5:15; Zechariah 8:17; Psalm 97:10; Proverbs 8:13), because evil is contrary to GOD’s nature and GOD cannot love evil which is contrary to His nature. 

And now that we know who Satan was in the beginning, we need to know who Satan was soon thereafter his creation, who he is now, and who he will be in the future. It is written in Ezekiel 28:15: “You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created until unrighteousness was found in you.” Of course, the obvious context of this verse is in reference to the king of Tyre, but the depth beyond the surface references Satan as the real king of pride and evil. Likewise, Isaiah 14:12-15 has an immediate surface context yet also has a deeper meaning as well. It would not be uncommon for Hebrew prophetic speech to pass from descriptions of human events to descriptions of heavenly events that are parallel to them and that the earthly events picture in a limited way. For example, Psalm 45, which moves from a description of an earthly king to a description of a divine Messiah (who is the one true King). 

Satan became evil after his creation. It is written that Satan sinned from the beginning and all who are evil are not children of GOD but are children of the devil (John 8:38-47; 1John 3:8-10). Therefore, Satan was a good creation in the beginning and GOD loved His good creations. However, GOD gave Satan the great gift of free will (out of love), yet Satan became prideful and chose to exalt himself above the Lord, rebel against GOD, became the accuser of human beings, and attempted to put GOD on trial. Thus, Satan became the epitome of everything evil. The very name of Satan means “adversary” or “one who opposes.” Another of his titles, the devil, means “slanderer.” Satan tempted Eve to sin in the Garden of Eden, and Adam followed her into sin, plunging the whole human race into a curse (Genesis 3:16–19; Romans 5:12). Pictured as a serpent and dragon in the Bible (Genesis 3:1; Revelation 12:9), Satan is a murderer and the father of lies (John 8:44). The devil promotes false doctrines and craftily seeks to keep unbelievers in spiritual bondage (2Corinthians 4:4; 11:14; 1Timothy 4:1). Satan prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour” (1Peter 5:8). In addition to being a tempter (Matthew 4:1-11; 1Thessalonians 3:5), Satan is also “the accuser” (Job 1:9-11; 2:4-5; Zechariah 3:1; Revelation 12:10), a deceiver (Acts 13:10), a schemer (Ephesians 6:11), and a thief (Luke 8:12).

Therefore, Satan now does everything GOD hates because Satan is the definition of evil, which is the absence of good and antithesis of GOD. The heart/will of Satan is fixed and confirmed in his hatred of humans and rebellion against GOD. Satan’s judgment is determined and his destruction is decreed. Revelation 20 describes GOD’s future plan for Satan and mercy has no part in the plan due to Satan’s choices. Instead, GOD must act consistently with His nature according to Truth and justice. GOD is omniscient (all-knowing) (1Kings 8:39; Psalm 139:1-4,15-16; Isaiah 46:10; Jeremiah 1:5; Matthew 9:4; 10:29-30; 12:25; Mark 2:6-8; Luke 6:8; John 1:47-48; 4:18; 11:11-15; Acts 1:24; 1Corinthians 2:10-11; 1John 3:20). And because GOD is omniscient, knowing the beginning from the end, we can trust GOD’s Word when GOD says that Satan is evil, he will not change, and he will not be saved.

A common claim amongst the critics is that Jesus made a contradictory command in Matthew 5:44: “love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” According to some critics, this means that both humans and GOD should love Satan and pray for him. However, this is only an apparent contradiction, not an actual contradiction, because the context is in regards to all other human beings, not Satan. That command is meant to govern interpersonal relationships in this world and help us view every human being as a creation whom GOD loves. We know from GOD’s Word that Satan is evil, he will not change, and he will not be saved; therefore, we are not to pray for his salvation. 

As an example of why we don’t need to pray for Satan, consider the fact that GOD told Jeremiah not to pray for his fellow Israelites because judgment had already been decreed. Three times GOD told Jeremiah, “do not pray for this people, and do not lift up cry or prayer for them, and do not intercede with Me; for I do not hear you” (Jeremiah 7:16; 11:14; 14:11). The reason behind GOD’s command was that He had already decided to judge and punish His people (Jeremiah 7:20) because they had repeatedly broken their covenant with Him by disobeying His commands and pursuing other gods, which He had forbidden (Exodus 20:2-4; Ezekiel 20:4-24). Israel’s idolatry was terrible in Jeremiah’s day and even included human sacrifice, as many caused their children to be burned alive (Jeremiah 19:4-5; Ezekiel 16:20-21; 20:25-26,31). Over and over again, Israel disobeyed GOD’s commands and would not change their behavior (Jeremiah 7:21-26; 11:1-13). Though Jeremiah had repeatedly spoken GOD’s Word to them for over two decades (Jeremiah 25:3), the people openly defied His message, telling him, “As for the message that you have spoken to us in the name of the LORD, we are not going to listen to you!” (Jeremiah 44:16). Their hearts were hardened to GOD’s Word. If Israel had listened to GOD and turned back to Him from their idolatry, GOD would have reversed His discipline and provided blessing instead (Jeremiah 7:3-7). Until they changed their ways, no amount of prayer was going to change their situation. GOD would not be moved by their pleas, or the petitions of His prophets because they would not repent.

Therefore, we do not need to pray for Satan or his evil angels because GOD has already decreed their judgment (Revelation 20:10). However, we are to love human beings even if they are perceived to be our enemies because GOD’s Word does not state whether those specific individuals in our lives will be saved or not. But GOD’s Word does say that Jesus willingly sacrificed Himself for all people and that some people will repent and come to the Lord (Acts 11:13-18; 16:29-34; 2Corinthians 7:9; 2Timothy 2:25). The New Testament teaches that GOD will discipline His disobedient people (Hebrews 12:6; Revelation 3:19; 1Corinthians 11:32), even to the point of death (Acts 5:1-11; 1Corinthians 11:27-30, 1John 5:16-17). However, there are no examples in the New Testament of GOD telling anyone not to pray. Instead, we are commanded to be “devoted to prayer” (Romans 12:12; Colossians 4:2), to “pray at all times in the Spirit” (Ephesians 6:18), and to “pray without ceasing” (1Thessalonians 5:17; Luke 18:1). This means the believer is to look to GOD always for wisdom and strength to do His will, lifting others before His throne of grace, requesting He will intervene as we ask, for His glory and their benefit.

Conclusion:

And now we come to the question: does GOD love Satan? As a parent would love a child as a creation of beauty, GOD loved Satan as His beautiful creation in the beginning. But if a child eventually becomes a heartless murderer and seeks to destroy all that is good, a moral parent would not love the actions that the child chose to do even if he/she still has love for the child. Likewise, GOD cannot love anything Satan does because Satan chose to become everything that is antithetical to GOD. However, GOD is love (1John 4:8,16) and so GOD loves even those who are condemned to Hell. The fact that Satan is now fallen and unspeakably evil does not imply that GOD ceases to love him, any more than the Lord ceased to love us when we fell and became enemies of GOD (Romans 5:8-10). Both Satan and I are fallen. In fact, I am not even good and do not deserve salvation (Romans 3:10-12,23; 6:23). The only difference between my fallen state and Satan’s fallen state is that I repented, humbled myself, sought GOD’s forgiveness, and chose to live according to GOD’s will and was saved by His grace (Ephesians 2:8-9). GOD loves everyone universally, impartially, and unconditionally, but that does not mean that GOD will act contradictory to His nature. This means despite GOD’s love, GOD is still Truth and justice and will declare holy judgment against evil. 

Now, if we love GOD (all that is Holy and good), we also cannot love anything Satan does. And even if, as loving children of GOD, our hearts desire to pray for Satan, judgment has already been decreed and GOD will not listen to those prayers because they’ll be against His will. But we shouldn’t pray for Satan because his very nature is evil and everything he stands for is evil (John 8:44). And if we side with Satan, we would be forced to hate GOD, because evil is opposite of good and no one can serve two masters (Joshua 24:14-15; 1Kings 18:21; Matthew 6:23-24; 1Corinthians 10:21; 2Corinthians 6:14-18; Galatians 1:10; James 4:4). GOD has already determined that there will be no forgiveness for Satan, but that’s because GOD already knows Satan will not repent. We, however, as children of GOD, are the objects of His sacrificial love, shown on the cross. As the Lord was lovingly redeeming mankind, He was putting Satan “to open shame” (Colossians 2:15). GOD’s judgment of Satan will be part of His great love for His children. 

So, does GOD love Satan? Yes; however, at the end of days, Truth and justice will bring a Holy wrath against all that is evil. And since Satan will never repent, refusing to separate himself from sin and all that is unholy, GOD will act according to His nature and bring judgment against all beings He loves due to their choices to live evil lives. But that action of eternal separation in Hell will be an act of love, protecting His true children from all evil that would harm them (Revelation 21:4,27). And so even GOD’s wrath and judgment is done out from His love because it upholds Truth and justice. But understand this: Hell breaks GOD’s heart (Ezekiel 18:23,32; 33:11). Why? Because GOD is love.