Kirk Cameron! Why didn’t I think of asking him
those questions? Tell us Kirk, why does God put up with Satan’s existence? Why not put him in time out, alternate universe, or just undo him?
Who’d know better than a guy whose movie opened just now? unstoppablethemovie.com
Good thing it’s a movie, not a blog, or this thread would not be in News/Activism.
The answers to these questions may seem weak if you are among those who do not recognize that the Scriptures are the message from God. However, if this underlying assumption can be accepted (the Scriptures are from God), then here is a crack at the very good questions you raise (hopefully, on behalf of Kirk).
The Scriptures provide us only a small peek at the reason for Satan's existence. Actually, one might broaden your inquiry to include, "Why does evil exist, at all?". Really, Satan is just another expression (a subset) of the concept of evil. He is a real being and an embodiment of evil, but still just a part of evil. From the Scriptures we gather that all evil (including Satan) was manufactured by God in order to make some kind of enormous point. That is, there has been an incredibly problematic drama set up to display the difference between God and all "other". The Scriptures call this His "glory".
Prior to the commencement of creation (which includes the beginning of time, the creation of Satan, the creation of heaven, the creation of the universe, etc.) God determined (after the counsel of His will) that He would form a creation in which this gargantuan problem could be solved only by His own death. That is, He would create the problem (rebellion against Himself), and it would be so enormous that only His own death could pay the price He decided to demand. If this seems preposterous, I shared your skepticism for years. But, this is what the Book tells us.
Satan just happens to be a pawn on the "chessboard" of creation, played by the hand of God. Don't misunderstand me here, God says that He has pushed Satan away from Himself in a way that makes Him not guilty of Satan's evil. Nevertheless, Satan is not an "accident", nor a "good thing gone wrong". He is a deliberate portion of the drama unfolding across all of creation. The whole death of Christ is not an "after thought" nor a "plan B". It was the eternal plan. The day will come when God does exactly what you suggest. Actually, all evil will be set aside in an "alternate universe"...something the Scriptures call "hell".
Currently, or shall I say, temporarily, we are seeing the expression of evil (Satan's and man's) play out seemingly uncontrolled. But, it is not uncontrolled, at all. At an appropriate time, all of this will be radically changed. Whether this is on the earth itself, or it occurs in another place, is not absolutely clear (new heaven & earth?).
But, you have happened upon one of the situations that tends to keep folks back from God. And, it is interesting that the Scriptures even describe this experience. To some, He has granted the opportunity to realize what He is doing...He has kept others in the dark. There is, in this sense no such thing as "free will", in that God (according to the Book), has been manipulating all things at all moments. You, me, every FReeper, every spirit, all molecules, all events. Even the death of His Son was the pre-planned moment of Rescue for those whom He has chosen.
I don't necessarily think that this will convince you of anything...it is not intended to. But, if you sense any kind of stirring in your soul that this rather outlandish story may be true, then it is possible the Spirit of God is dragging you into the adopted family. Perhaps you are already there.
But, there is no club to join, there is no organization which is special, there is only His family. If you are brought into His family you will be in "The Body of Christ", as it is called in the Book. Everyone from the beginning of human history (at least Abel and onward) who has been granted this "drawing" (known as "faith") are in the family of Christ.
Of course, this is an abbreviated version of the story found in the Scriptures. Some organizations have tried to make this about them, but it is really about the Triune God and His glory. Let anyone of the folks noted in the "to" section of this post, if you wish to know more.
Freewill. God did not want robots. Freewill allows the ability to choose to sin or to obey.
Removing Satan from Earth won’t change anything. Man has already chosen the path of sin. The consequence of that choice is evil, suffering, and ultimately death.