This is would include Satan because he was an angel, but where did they come from? Do they have the power of choice as we do, or are they something like "Androids" or "Robots"? At first, this question may seem irrelevant to the study of the scriptures, yet if we do not know the answer to this question we can easily be led to believe that because God created angels then He is responsible for sin. So let's dig for the Bible's answer. Here are a few texts that should give us some answers.
Ezekiel
28:12 ...Thus saith the Lord God; Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty.
28:13 Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone [was] thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created.
28:14 Thou [art] the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee [so]: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire.
28:15 Thou [wast] perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.
28:16 By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned: therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God: and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire.
28:17 Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee.
28:18 Thou hast defiled thy sanctuaries by the multitude of thine iniquities, by the iniquity of thy traffic;
Isaiah
14:12 How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! [how] art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!
14:13 For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:
14:14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.
John
8:44 Ye are of [your] father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.
Jude
1:6 And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.
We can glean a great deal from the above texts about Satan and about angels in general:
- Lucifer was a created being, and he was created perfect with no tendency to sin. (God did not create a devil, but He did create perfect angels.)
- Lucifer became the Devil (Satan) when he chose to sin, it was his choice. (God did not force Satan to do what he has done. Angels have the power of choice, just like we do.)
- Lucifer's sins included pride, covetousness and jealousy. (He was proud of self, he wanted the honor that was due to God alone, and he wanted to be powerful like God, but he did not want to be like God in character.)
- The Devil is the father of lies and a murderer from the beginning. (Sin originated with Lucifer.)
- As stated above, angels have the power to choose, and because of the choices they made some were forced to leave heaven. (The Bible tells us that one third of the angels left heaven with Lucifer. Rev. 12:4.)
