Satan, the leader of the kingdom of darkness, needs to be identified and understood because much of what follows in this study is dependent upon a clear understanding.  Consider these different translations of a verse from Isaiah.

Behold, I have created the smith that bloweth the coals in the fire, and that bringeth forth an instrument for his work; and I have created the waster to destroy.  Isaiah 54:16  KJV

Behold, I Myself have created the smith who blows the fire of coals,  /  And brings out a weapon for its work;  /  And I have created the destroyer to ruin.  Isaiah 54:16  NASB

Lo, I – I have prepared an artisan, blowing on a fire of coals, and bringing out an instrument for his work, and I have prepared a destroyer to destroy.  Isaiah 54:16  YLT (Young’s Literal Translation)

Note the emphasis placed on the creator in the NASB, I Myself, and in the YLT, I – I.  Clearly, by this emphasis, God Almighty is directly and unambiguously taking responsibility for what follows, i.e., the creation of a waster/destroyer.  Of course, this waster/destroyer is Satan, who was given the power of death for humanity (Heb 2:14) and therefore is the murderer of humanity.

“You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father.  He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him.  Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature; for he is a liar, and the father of lies.”  John 8:44 NASB

Jesus states clearly, directly, and unambiguously that Satan was a murderer/liar from the beginning.  John later restates Satan’s nature from the beginning.

the one who practices sin is of the devil; for the devil has sinned from the beginning.  The Son of God appeared for this purpose, that He might destroy the works of the devil.  1John 3:8

As a liar (from the beginning), Satan has the ability to deceive the whole world.

And the great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; …  Revelation 12:9  NASB

Christian teachings unfortunately are not immune to Satan’s lies and deceptions, so some of what is being taught regarding the Bible are lies of Satan.  For instance, one of Satan’s lies is that he is a fallen angel of light who rebelled against God Almighty.  Because Satan has sinned from the beginning, he has always been a murderer and a liar.  Therefore, Satan cannot be a former angel of light; nevertheless, he perpetuates the lie that he is.  Divinely, this lie is specifically addressed in scripture.

For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ.  And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.  2Corinthians 11:13-14  NASB

An important component of Satan’s deceit that he is a fallen angel is that Satan assigns to himself the attributes of the man Adam when Adam was in the garden of Eden.  Specifically, the deception is that portions of Isaiah 14 and Ezekiel 28, which are descriptive of the man Adam, apply to Satan.  For instance, Isaiah 14:4-21 is a taunt against the king of Babylon, who is described as succumbing to conceit and being brought down to Sheol. (Sheol in Hebrew and hades in New Testament Greek are translated as the grave.)

“Your pomp and the music of your harps  /  Have been brought down to Sheol;  /  Maggots are spread out as your bed beneath you,  /  And worms are your covering.”  Isaiah 14:11  NASB

A couple of verses later, the one addressed is identified as a man.

“Those who see you will gaze at you,  /  They will ponder over you, saying,  /  ‘Is this the man who made the earth tremble,  /  Who shook kingdoms,’ ”  Isaiah 14:16  NASB

A man whose body was destroyed by maggots and worms is really not descriptive of a spirit like Satan.

In verse 12, we are told of one who is referred to in terms of a star.  Here are several translations of that verse.

How you have fallen from heaven,  /  O star of the morning, son of the dawn.  /  You have been cut down to earth,  /  You who have weakened the nations!  Isaiah 14:12  NASB

How hast thou fallen from the heavens,  /  O shining one, son of the dawn!  /  Thou has been cut down to earth,  /  O weakener of nations.  Isaiah 14:12  YLT

King of Babylon, bright morning star, you have fallen from heaven!  In the past you conquered nations, but now you have been thrown to the ground.  Isaiah 14:12  Good News Translation

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!  Isaiah 14:12  KJV

Because of the King James Version, it is common teaching that this verse identifies Satan as a fallen angel of light named Lucifer.  The following from Gregory A. Boyd is helpful information.

The original Hebrew text of verse 12 for the phrase “O star of the morning, son of the dawn” was הילל בן שחר (heilel ben-schahar), meaning “Helel son of Shahar.”  Helel was a Babylonian/Canaanite god who was the son of another Babylonian/Canaanite god named Shahar.  Helel was the god of the morning star and his father was Shahar, god of the dawn.  This phrase is one of the popular honorific titles of a Babylonian king.

Lucifer is a Latin word meaning “light-bearer” (from lux, lucis, “light”, and ferre, “to bear, bring”), a Roman astrological term for the “Morning Star”, the planet Venus.  The word Lucifer was the direct translation of the Greek eosphoros (“dawn-bearer”; cf. Greek phosphoros, “light-bearer”) used by Jerome in the Vulgate (an early-5^th-century translation of the Bible into Latin by Jerome), having mythologically the same meaning as Prometheus who brought fire to humanity.

Because the planet Venus (Lucifer) is an inferior planet, meaning that its orbit lies between the orbit of the Earth and the Sun, it can never rise high in the sky at night as seen from Earth. It can be seen in the eastern morning sky for an hour or so before the Sun rises, and in the western evening sky for an hour or so after the Sun sets, but never during the dark of midnight.  Venus (Lucifer) is the brightest object in the sky after the Sun and the Moon. As bright and as brilliant as it is, ancient people couldn’t understand why they couldn’t see it at midnight like the other planets, or during midday, like the Sun and Moon. Some believe they invented myths about Lucifer being cast out from Heaven to explain this. Lucifer was supposed to shine so bright because it wanted to take over the thrones or status of Saturn and Jupiter, both of which were considered most important by the worshipers of planetary deities at the time.

God at War: The Bible and Spiritual Conflict, Gregory A. Boyd, Intervarsity Press, 1997, pp.159-160

This excerpt tells us that the taunt against the King of Babylon included an honorific title for the King which is associated with the Babylonian god identified with the planet Venus (i.e., the morning star).  The original text in verse 12 uses the name “Heilel” or “Helel” for this god.  The mythology of other cultures included such a god, but with a different name.  Because “Lucifer” is the name for the planet Venus in the Roman culture, “Heilel” was translated into Latin as “Lucifer”.  While the Greek and Roman cultures had mythological associations with the planet Venus, Christianity does not, and this has made a direct translation of verse 12 difficult.  The KJV carries forward the name associated with the planet Venus from Roman mythology–Lucifer.  Other translations use a more generic name, “O star of the morning, son of the dawn” (NASB) or “O morning star, son of the dawn” (NIV).

The name “Lucifer” does not appear in the original text of verse 12 of Isaiah, nor does it appear elsewhere in the original text of the Bible.  It does not name an angel or archangel in Christianity, for it only appears in a Latin translation as the equivalent of a god of Babylonian mythology.  However, the one and only appearance of the name “Lucifer” in the King James translation has brought with it the story associated with this name from ancient mythology and astrology, which is that “Lucifer” (the Planet Venus), desiring the thrones of others, was cast from heaven.  This story from ancient mythology and astrology contributes to the modern belief that Lucifer is a former angel of light who was cast out of heaven.  In other words, the teaching that Satan is a fallen angel has precedent in paganism, the false religion created jointly by man and Satan.  Thus, we see that mixing paganism and Christianity was the means to achieve that which we were warned about in 2Corinthians 14:11 (for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light).

Satan’s lie that he is an angel of light who rebelled against God Almighty conveys the inference that God Almighty is not all-powerful.  Another lie is that God Almighty’s saints in the time of tribulation cannot or do not wish to stand and overcome, so they must rely on a “rapture” to escape.  These lies work together.  If Satan is a rebellious angel of light who messed up God Almighty’s plan for humanity on the earth, then God Almighty’s power and authority are diminished.  In order to get things back to His liking, God Almighty was forced to give his Son Jesus to the world, yet Satan was able to arrange Jesus’ death. God Almighty’s saints cannot endure and overcome Satan in this world, so they must be rescued with escape/rapture, another diminishment of the power and authority of God Almighty.  What’s more, if there is no means of redemption of sinners condemned to the lake of fire/hell (Rev 20:15), then only a portion of humanity is reconciled to God Almighty.  That is, Satan was able to bring all of humanity to darkness, but Jesus will bring some, but not all, back to the light.

When these lies of Satan are exposed by the Word of God, there is clear vision of God Almighty as He is — the omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent creator of the universe who is in complete control of all things and who is working His will to completion as originally decreed by Him.

The LORD of hosts has sworn saying, “Surely, just as I have intended so it has happened, and just as I have planned so it will stand,  …  “For the LORD of hosts has planned, and who can frustrate it?  And as for His stretched-out hand, who can turn it back?”  Isaiah 14:24,27  NASB

These lies, which aggrandize Satan and diminish God Almighty, will be refuted as we proceed.

Since Satan is a sinner/liar/murderer from the beginning, what then is Satan’s relationship to God Almighty?  Satan was not, is not, and cannot be an adversary of God Almighty.  Actually, Satan is an obedient servant of God Almighty, a fact illustrated in the first chapter of the Book of Job.

Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, Satan also came among them.  And the LORD said to Satan, “From where do you come?”  Then Satan answered the LORD and said, “From roaming about on the earth and walking around on it.”  And the LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job?  For there is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, fearing God and turning away from evil.”  Then Satan answered the LORD, “Does Job fear God for nothing?  Hast Thou not made a hedge about him and his house and all that he has, on every side?  Thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land.  But put forth Thy hand now and touch all that he has; he will surely curse Thee to Thy face.”  Then the LORD said to Satan, “Behold, all that he has is in your power, only do not put forth your hand on him.”  So Satan departed from the presence of the LORD.  Job 1:6-12  NASB

We can be sure that the obedient nature of Satan shown in Job 1 is an accurate description of the only relationship Satan has ever had with God Almighty, Who created all that is and is fully and totally responsible for the world we live in.

On the other hand, Satan is an adversary of humanity.

Be of sober spirit, be on the alert.  Your adversary, the devil, prowls about like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.  But resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world.  1Peter 5:8-9  NASB

Satan’s means of attacking humanity is through temptation.  Satan brought temptation to the very first of humanity in the Garden of Eden.

Now the serpent was more craft than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made.  And he said to the woman …  Genesis 3:1  NASB

We get insight on this matter when Satan tempted Jesus.

And he led Him up and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.  And the devil said to Him, “I will give You all this domain and its glory; for it has been handed over to me, and I give it to whomever I wish.  Therefore if You worship before me, it shall all be Yours.”  Luke 4:5-7  NASB

Notice that Satan’s authority was given to him; he did not acquire such authority by rebellion as some would have us believe.

In conclusion, scriptures state that Satan was created by God Almighty as the waster to destroy (Isaiah 54:16) to be an adversary of humanity (1 Pet 5:8-9).  Satan has always been an obedient servant of God Almighty (Job 1:6-12) and is not a fallen angel of light (2Cor 11:13-15).

Thus ends our consideration of spiritual day/age 1 when God Almighty created and separated spiritual kingdoms of light and darkness.

…  And there was evening and there was morning, one day.  Genesis 1:5  NASB