Some people believe that God and Satan are equals. These folk may of course say that we should worship God in preference to Satan because God represents good. However they might be reluctant to condemn Satan, because they believe that without Satan's evil, God,s goodness
The underlying idea is that if the father of evil did not exist, then the Father of righteousness could not exist either. In the spiritual and moral realm, so the theory goes, you need to have the dark or in order to have the light. For example there is the Chinese philosophy of
This view not only makes God and Satan equal, but to some minds makes them one entity. Many religions hold that every reality has two essential sides, good and evil. The tension between good and evil is resolved differently in different religions. Some attempt to subjugate evil to good (or vice versa), others to balance the two, and yet others to eliminate the
Incidentally, some religions, or schools of thought within religions, do nor believe in real beings such as God and Satan, but view these "gods" as merely imaginative personifications of the principles
Any idea that God and Satan are equal opposites is shattered by one great fact in Christian belief, namely that God has always existed. God was "before all things and by him all things came into being"
Incidentally, you will have noticed that in the above quotes there is reference to Jesus Christ. The New Testament recognises three divine Persons as one God. (Men have labelled this view of Godhood as "the Trinity" but the New Testament does not use that term). The New Testament doctrine of the divinity and equality of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, itself demonstrates that the New Testament sees no equality between God and Satan, for Satan is not three persons but one, and that without divine nature. So he is most obviously a lesser being by far. The main point, however, is that Satan is not eternal
The New Testament doctrine is that God is the ultimate source of all good and Satan is the main source of evil. For example Jesus calls him "the father of lies"
Christians believe that good can exist on its own, and indeed is meant to. In the beginning there was no evil, only good. As we have already observed, God was in the beginning before all things
God's creatures have always been free and able to do good. On the other hand, God has never granted the right to do evil, for if he granted it, then it would not be evil. God did, however, give his creatuires a free will, which made it possible for them to rebel against his will. It was in God's goodness that he allowed his creatures this freedom of will. It would not have been good to withold it. However this must not be construed as a "right" to rebel. We are at liberty to "examine everything carefully; hold fast to what is good; abstain from every form of evil"
In the nature of God, and his creation, good will conquer evil. God was able even to turn the most evil act of all time to his good purpose. Through the crucifixion of Christ, forgiveness became possible
The heaven that Christians hope for is a place where evil will not exist. "According to his promise, we are looking for a new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells"
There is one New Testament fact which answers this question with a solid "no". God has an "eternal purpose"
In the visions of heaven shown to John
Some of this lesson has been difficult, however there is one statement in the New Testament that will confirm our conclusion that Satan is not equal to God. God is called "the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone possesses immortality and dwells in unapproachable light, whom no man can see. To him be honour and eternal dominion, Amen"