Is Satan EQUAL TO GOD? Of course not!! Is Satan even infinitessimally comparable to God in power? Of course not!! Could Satan, supposedly one of the brightest of angels, reasonably believe that he could overthrow God and claim the throne of Heaven? If he believed that he was either insane or had some reason to think that God would not care what he did.... since God created Satan, I find it hard to swallow that Satan is insane (although maybe Satan was around for billions of years before the rebellion, and was driven insane out of jealousy or such and such), so I figure God must have led Satan to believe that Satan could get away with an attempt to depose God, which must be part of God's plan....
Could God have destroyed Satan outright? Of course!! Just as easily as God could have made man incapable of sin.... but God chose to create Hell (which by the way is a metaphor for being apart from God, not a lake of fire with demons and stuff), and put Satan there, and in fact let Satan RULE there, and continue to interfere in man's life on earth.... again all part of the plan.... so remember, whatever Satan's function is, he's God's creation and exists and meddles to the extent that God permits him to do so, and (apparently knowing the truth of God's power) does not seek the forgiveness that would be granted if he sought it....
In short, Satan, whatever he does, he does it because God needs for it to be done to maintain the balance of the Universe!!
//// Pacific PanDeist