If he did, why did he choose agony over love?
Genesis 1:1 - 31
ESV - 1 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.
For follow-up discussion and general commentary on the topic. Comments are sorted chronologically.
I don't think we can rationalize Satan's decision any better than we can Adam's. Told he would SURELY die, Adam might have saved himself some trouble if he had asked what SURELY meant. Also, angels aren't human, who can know what makes an angel tick? If we're going to try and psychoanalyze the starting lineup in this whole thing, I think it should start with our species, namely, Adam and Eve. That should be easy for us, all we need to do is a self-analysis. Are we warned that if we drink and drive there will be eternal consequences? We do it knowing the possibilities. Drop out of school, pre-marital "unprotected" sex, adultery, all these have eternal consequences, just like everything else we do. There's no free ride for anything we do. Many times that fact doesn't stop us, however.