Lucifer's role has changed greatly over time. The most famously cited story for him being an evil, scheming antithesis of God, that one where he makes a bet with God that he can make some sad sack of a farmer turn his back on God, can be seen from many viewpoints. Really, Lucifer did that because he was a bad dude, right? No - long ago, Lucifer was one of God's best angels, and he made the bet because he was concerned that the man in question did not love God because he was God, but because he gave him nice things (a legitimate concern, I suppose). So what he did, completely fuck that poor man's life over, was actually done to see if the man truly loved God and was carried out by someone who had God's best interest in mind. He wasn't trying to disprove God, he was just an example of how people shouldn't be nervous that mankind's love of God was genuine.
Fast forward to Jesus saying "Begone, Satan," to one of his best buddies in the Gospel, and Lucifer begins to be seen in a different light. But it was totally in light of the long-ago meaning of the Lucifer - someone who tempted people into not loving God because they loved themselves more. When Lucifer tempted Jesus in the desert for over a month? That was in the same vein as the previous story with the man whose life went to shit.
Fast forward even further to John Milton writing Paradise Lost, and taking Satan, who had already become a villain, to be his villain for his Biblical epic. That sort of cemented Lucifer as the Chief Bad Dude. But really, Satan as lord of hell is a bit of a stretch. He's not doing it because he's evil, I think, but he's doing it because he's trying to protect God from those who lie about their faith for their own gain.
Keep in mind, this is just my opinion based on a thorough reading of Paradise Lost and the Bible verses in question. Here, have the entirety of the John Milton's works wrapped in one lovely website:
http://www.dartmouth.edu/~milton/reading_room/contents/index.shtml 
