Why did God allow Satan to be an angel?

Q: Why did God allow Satan to be an angel if he knew he was going to be thrown out of heaven and become the devil?

A: That is an interesting question. A similar one I've come across is "Why did God create Adam & Eve in Eden if he knew we were going to screw it all up and get kicked out in the end?" I think the answer is because God always gives good gifts [see Matt. 7:11]. When God works, He always starts with the best possible scenario in mind. Eden was the best possible gift for Adam & Eve, besides being able to commune with God one on one. So I think when God created all the angels...he had the best in mind for them as well. The best gift to them was Himself, the ability to serve and worship God for eternity.

Now just like Adam and Eve [and all of us, see Romans 3:23], Satan [or the Morning Star as he was known back then, see Isaiah 14:11-13] screwed it up. He got proud, thought he was better than God, and wanted His glory for himself. [Just as an aside...one of the best theatrical conversations I've ever seen about this story is in "Dogma" when the 2 angels played by Matt & Ben get into an argument in the parking garage.] This also brings up the idea that all the angels must have free-will just as we humans do. We have the ability to decide for ourselves if we will follow/obey/worship God...He doesn't force it from us, but lets us decide. So the angels had a choice, and the chose rebellion.

Now, because God knows everything about all that ever was or will be, He knew that angel-servant Satan would become evil-devil Satan. And I think He allowed this to happen because it was part of His grand plan. Because there was evil, there was separation. Because there was separation, there had to be a Savior. It really all goes back to free will. God gave us the ability to choose to worship/love Him. Just as a spouse doesn't want to force his/her mate to say, "I love you." so God doesn't want to force us to say it. It wouldn't mean as much.

So the final answer: God allowed Satan to be an angel because it was part of His grand plan of redemption. He created humans/angels with the ability to freely choose who/what they would worship & love.