I believe God allowed evil in the world simply because it offered us a choice. We were free to choose whether we would follow God or not. Without the option of evil, that choice would be removed.
As for Lucifer and his betrayal, I don’t have many answers. Yes, theologians have some fairly detailed explanations for it all, but sometimes I think the simplest answer is to admit that some things are beyond our scope of truly understanding. Sure, I could suggest that it will be all made clear when we are in Heaven, but at that time, we just wont care how it all fell into place, lol.

I had always been under the impression that when God created man in his own image…”that it was good”. How then if it was good would he allow sin to come into the world to the same degree that it is in the world? and how would he allow Lucifer’s rebellion in heaven? As God is suppose to know what has come…what is to come….didn’t he see this betrayal of Lucifer coming and this is all God’s plan? I have never really understood this and have just believed by faith. To understand it and how it all falls in to place might come in handy when discussing it in the future.

These are things that I have always wondered about….