Lucifer, the proper name of the devil, means light-bringer, and he is the angel of light. He rebelled against God, incurring the War of Heaven, which he lost (arguably, more on this later), and was cast into Hell, which was created specifically for him, because before the Fall, there had been no need of such a place. Lucifer represents the spirit of Democracy, freedom, love, knowledge, courage, and all such principles that honorable people hold dear, and God is a cruel, tyranical puppet-master. Read Dante's Inferno or Milton's Paradise Lost, or simply read a history book, and anyone with half a moral backbone will sympathize with Lucifer. It's the people with no internal moral convictions, and need to be told what's right and wrong who'll believe whatever God tells them.Much like the Titan Prometheus in Greek mythology, who was outcast for bringing the tool of fire to men, Lucifer is responsible for bringing the tools of light and knowledge to us. Originally, of course, he is the one who convinced Adam and Eve to eat from the Tree of Knowledge, against the will of God. God, being a tyrant, would prefer to keep us in ignorant submission, but Lucifer is our savior, for bringing us the light of knowledge. To say that something is the work of the devil, is to imply that it is positively enlightening, that it comes from the angel of light. The Enlightenment itself, for example, was claimed by many Christians to be the devil's work, stressing reason over faith. So too of the Renaissance, and a number of other great intellectual and artistic movements throughout history. And Lucifer's work they are.
Lucifer saved us from that sinful life of submission, and his sacrifice is clear. His sacrifice is an eternity of torture in Hell, all because he loved mankind so deeply, and more than that, he knew what was right, and stood to take this punishment, laughing in God's face because he knew he was right. How can you deny the sacrifice he made for you? It is clearly greater than that of Christ, who suffered only bodily and temporarily before he rose to heaven: Lucifer's is a sacrifice for all men and all time, and he continues to suffer for us now. For this he alone is our Savior, and does not demand our worship, but deserves recognition.There is one interpretation of the Fall that I find particularly attractive, because it solves many of the ontological puzzles involved with evil and omnipotence, etc. This is the belief that Lucifer is the original God, who created the universe and everything in it, and especially bringing Light, hence his name. Upon the creation of man, Satan rebelled, unwilling to bow to a creature lower than himself, and the War of Heaven ensued. This interpretation has Satan actually winning the war, with Lucifer, who was a benevolent God of Light, being cast out of heaven. By definition, an omnipotent God cannot lose to an inferior (Satan), and so in a puff of ontological logic, Satan instantly became God, because he had won the war, and whoever won the war would have to be, by definition, God. Now, and since the creation of Man, it has been Satan who sits upon the throne of heaven, and has been called God, and the benevolent creator and angel of light, Lucifer, was cast into Hell.
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