Why didn’t the tragedy of sin stop with Lucifer? Why didn’t God destroy him before his disease of sin could spread?

It’s important to remember that Lucifer had challenged the fairness of God’s government. Lucifer, later called Satan, had told lies about God and His character. The idea of telling a lie had never entered the minds of the angels. They couldn’t understand why two different beings were telling them different things. Naturally they didn’t grasp all that lay behind Lucifer’s deceptions.

If God had destroyed Satan immediately, the angels would have begun to serve Him from fear rather than from love. This would have defeated the very purpose He had in creating beings with the power of choice in the first place. It is much harder to choose freely if a person is afraid of what will happen to them when they choose. God wanted all His created beings to serve Him out of love and as a result of their own choice.

If Satan had been destroyed immediately, how would anyone really know that God’s way was best? The angels would have always wondered what would have happened if Lucifer had survived. They would have always wondered if Lucifer was actually right about God being a liar and trying to hide something from them.

No one had dared to try an alternative government system before. But now, God gave Satan a chance to demonstrate his alternative system. That’s why he was given an opportunity to make his pitch to Adam and Eve. Since then, this planet has become a testing ground where the character of Satan and the nature of his kingdom are contrasted with the character of God and the nature of His kingdom. Who is right? Who can we ultimately trust? These are the issues which the Great Controversy between Christ and Satan will resolve.

But we know the end of the story. In the end, God will be vindicated as the one true God, and the world will see that He has always had an absolutely fair and loving system of government.

Satan's Deceptions

So deceptive was Lucifer, that before all the universe could be fully convinced, the nature of his alternative system had to be fully exposed. It has taken time for everyone to really grasp how disastrous Satan’s plan actually is. But eventually everyone will see that “the wages of sin is death” and that “the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23).

At that time, every being in the entire universe will agree with the declaration:
“‘Great and marvelous are your deeds, Lord God Almighty. Just and true are your ways, King of the ages. Who will not fear you, O Lord, and bring glory to your name? For you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship before you, for your righteous acts have been revealed’” (Revelation 15:3, 4).

Conclusion: God's Perfect Plan

After everyone understands the deadly nature of sin and the destructive nature of Satan’s philosophy, God can finally destroy Satan and sin. He will also have to destroy those who stubbornly resist His grace and cling to Satan’s alternative kingdom.

God is just as anxious to resolve the problem of sin and suffering as we are to have Him do so. But He is waiting until He can do it on a permanent basis, and until He can both preserve our free will and prevent evil from ever appearing again. God cannot risk the chance of anyone ever again choosing selfishness over love. He lets the whole universe and everyone in it see that Satan and his kingdom of evil are not worth choosing. Once the end of Satan finally comes, no one will be deceived any longer about who is the actual Good and Righteous God of all time and all space. God, the Almighty, is He.