In-Depth Studies Blog

Star Wars is a complex movie, but after you strip away the music, the monsters, the Millennium Falcon, and the multitude of other characters, special effects, gadgets, and space ships, you are actually left with a very simple concept, good versus evil. George Lucas made this very hard to miss, right down to the good guys wearing white and the bad guys black. However, now that I am a believer in Christ, I have a radically different view of who is evil (depraved) and who, if anyone, is good. This is vital to understand if we are to know our position before a holy God. So, for the purposes of this blog, I am going to judge the morality of Star Wars’ characters by Jesus’ standard.  Of course, the bible will have to be my guide and I will not go beyond the bounds of what it says about man. What I hope to reveal is that people on earth are more analogous to the villains in Star Wars than the heroes.
So, from this point on, whenever I refer to man, I am referring to unbelievers, men and women who are not relying on the righteousness of Jesus Christ to be accepted by God. I admit that I used to be in this category before God saved me. As a reminder, he didn’t save me because of anything intrinsically good in me, but because of his fantastic mercy. He graciously gave me the understanding to see that my heart actually loved myself far beyond everyone else especially him. He showed me through his Word that by his standard, I was totally depraved. Meaning, in the spiritual realm, it was not possible for me to do anything motivated by a love of God. In actuality, my will was hand-cuffed to my own selfish desires.

So, I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in my members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Romans 7:21-24

It was not that I was as bad as I could be in every way, but rather I had the potential to be. Implying, if God would have decided to withhold his grace from me, I would have been as ruthless as Greedo, as self-centered as Han Solo, as lazy as Jabba the Hutt, as conceited as C-3P0, as cruel as Moff Tarkin, as betraying as Lando Calrissian, as deceitful as Emperor Palpatine, and as power-hungry as Darth Vader himself.
Let me be extra clear. It was not that I was “basically good” and just needed some type of divine religious steroid. I was spiritually incapable of choosing Christ and thus spiritually dead, not kind of dead, not mostly dead…dead!

As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions-it is by grace you have been saved. Ephesians 2:1-5

Remember when Luke Skywalker discovers his dead aunt and uncle, their smoldering skeletons sprawled out on the ground? Now, try to imagine Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru mustering the strength to will themselves into living people again. They quickly grow all new cells, organs, skin, and on top of that, a brain thinking only holy and loving thoughts of the stormtroopers who murdered them. Ridiculous, isn’t it? No more outrageous than a person coming to Christ without new life first being breathed into him. This is why Paul uses the word “dead” to describe those who are not in Christ. They can do nothing to truly desire God unless he initiates it by giving them a new heart.

I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. Ezekiel 36:26-27

Moreover, man’s heart is so anti-Jesus that he will never come to the Lord unless God first chooses to draw him.

No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day. John 6:44

In The Empire Strikes Back, Luke notices a cave on Dagobah. When Luke asks what’s inside, Yoda answers, “Only what you take with you.” Luke enters the cave and finds Darth Vader, lightsaber in hand. After decapitating the Sith Lord, a part of Darth Vader’s helmet explodes revealing Luke Skywalker’s face inside. George Lucas is trying to convey that if Luke continues on the path he’s on, he will end up like Darth Vader. However, when you understand how God views the spiritual state of man, the opposite is really more accurate; that is, if we take a look inside Luke (or any other good guy in Star Wars), we would discover the beating heart of an evil Sith. This is comparable to everyone on earth who does not love Jesus above everything and everyone else. Figuratively speaking, if you could peel back the face of a nonbeliever, you would find the face of Satan. I am not referring only to serial killers and terrorists. I am describing all people who are not trusting in Jesus alone for God’s acceptance. This means many little kids singing in church choirs are actually children of the Devil. Scores of priests and nuns around the world are going to end up in hell. Whoever you think is the nicest person you have ever met might suffer the wrath of God.
At this point, you might be wondering why I call myself a Christian and yet seem to teach such hatred and intolerance. My main reason is that I am convinced that man will never love God deeply unless he first takes ownership of his sin, the bottomless pit of sin that Jesus paid for with His life. If you think you have been forgiven little, you will love little. Man must first be like the sinful woman in Luke’s gospel. She embraced all of her sin and fervently loved her Savior accordingly.

Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven — for she loved much. But he who has been forgiven little loves little. Luke 7:47

Since I am persuaded that God’s Word corroborates my view, I strive to make Scripture, not my sin-tainted and biased opinions, authoritative on all matters including the depravity of man.
Man cannot come to God because his heart does not have the ability to want God. Since we are born with an extremely self-centered disposition, it is spiritually impossible for us to seek a God who demands complete self-denial. This is similar to why Han Solo mocks the Force. He does not want to humble himself and rely on something or someone other than himself. The audience laughs at Solo when his plans backfire because he is so cocky. All the same, it is his prideful heart that makes him choose this way and be resistant to true respect of the Force. I admit there are plenty of professing Christians who give the appearance of respecting the name Jesus. They wake early Sunday morning, dress up in their finest clothes, and faithfully attend church. They might even listen to Christian radio during the drive over to feel extra holy. However, as they sit in church, they are only doing it for selfish reasons. It might be to relieve guilt, feel self-righteous, meet new friends, or just listen to an energetic speaker and lively music. If they do happen to listen to the sermon, their depraved hearts will filter out any commands to repent of sin. When the rubber meets the road, they will act just like Han Solo and adamantly deny the Word of God. We only need to read chapter 3 of Romans to know that those who think they want to come to God are in no way desiring the God of the bible. The god they might stoop to “worship” only needs to make their life not difficult or complicated, that is, to be a god that accepts them even when they continue to live for themselves.
Many people will claim that there are those who are innocent and good in this world, those who should not suffer the wrath of God simply by the qualifying circumstances. Still, no matter how innocent people may appear to be in man’s eyes, what matters to God is the motivation of their hearts. Are they living life so that Jesus is honored? What is the reason they do good? If it’s not to glorify Jesus above all else, then it is sin.

And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. Colossians 3:17

Like the first R2 unit Luke and his uncle almost bought from the Jawas, the unbeliever has a “bad motivator” and on his own, he can do nothing to change it. Additionally, the good guys in Star Wars are only good because they are up against the most obvious evil. Remember Mos Eisley Space Port (“you will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy”)? Of course, if you put a sheltered farm boy next to a hideous alien who has the death sentence in twelve systems, he will look as white as the snow on Hoth. This is the trap unbelievers fall into. They look around at other people and judge them by their own standard, not God’s standard. They then say to themselves, “I am not that bad. At least I’m not like that person.” They do not realize how incredibly evil they are.

You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. Revelation 3:7

Romans chapter 5 explains that God uses a particular method, representation, to judge man. There are two groups of people in this world, those whom Adam represents and those whom Jesus represents. Way back in Genesis chapter 3, Adam sinned and rebelled against God. From that point on, all unbelievers are represented by Adam, i.e., they inherit his bad standing before God.

Consequently, just as the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men. Romans 5:18

Meaning, when God looks at any unbeliever, there is a two-fold condemnation, he sees the horrible sin of Adam as well as the unbeliever’s own unscrupulous behavior. Likewise, all believers are represented by Christ. That is, God looks at the believer (even though he sins) and sees his holy Son who paid the ransom.
It is noteworthy to point out that these verses mention the word “all”. This sometimes trips people up because Paul says that Jesus represents all men. However, we must not assume anything, but let Scripture interpret itself. Paul assumes his audience understands a certain degree about being justified (accepted by God) and we can actually go to another of his letters to find out who this “all” is referring to.

For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. But each in his own turn: Christ the firstfruits, then when he comes those who belong to him. 1 Corinthians 15:22-23

It’s helpful to remember how you use the word “all”. It is usually not referring to everybody on the planet. In The Empire Strikes Back, Princess Leia, says, “Vader wants us all dead!” Now, I don’t think any one would try to argue that the Princess means he wants everybody in the universe dead including the Emperor, his legion of stormtroopers, and the rest of his underlings who show him the fear and respect he craves. On the contrary, after examining this statement in context, it is obvious that she means all the Rebels. This is the nature of understanding communication in everyday life and in the bible, not by scrutinizing every single word’s meaning but by knowing the context. The verses in Romans are simply explaining that punishment applies to everyone whom Adam represents and forgiveness applies to everyone whom Jesus represents.
The truly astonishing concept is that God shows everyone on earth incredible kindness especially considering that man is indifferent or even spiteful toward Him. Every plate of food, every air conditioner in the summer, every tear-free day, and a million other gifts are examples of God’s remarkable common grace to mankind.

He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. Matthew 5:45

Even the good guys in Star Wars are depraved and kill those who stand in their way (Han Solo blowing away Greedo in cold blood). I praise God that he is more merciful than they because I was once his enemy and he showed me grace. The fact that even an unbelieving child who dies at six years old and is sent to hell has actually been shown love because his punishment was not immediate. This is hard for man to accept because his heart is not inclined this way, but this understanding is crucial to coming to God on His terms. The Armenian and more popular perspective chooses to believe that man realizes his sin and thus seeks out the God who can save him. However, as explained above, man’s heart is naturally so wicked, this choice would never happen unless God condescends to choose to save the sinner first.

You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit-fruit that will last. John 15:16

As it is written: There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. Romans 3:10

No man seeks the God of Scripture because his heart is rotten. If someone really seeks and trusts in Christ alone, it is solely because God has supernaturally regenerated his heart. At that point, his heart is no longer depraved but loves Jesus. It is true he will continue to battle his sin,

So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. Galatians 5:16-17

But he now hates his sin because it is a slap in the face of his heavenly Father. Although salvation does not require us to have a seminary graduate’s understanding of Calvinism, it definitely demands seeing yourself as a sinner. I hope I have conveyed that for man to really fall in love with Christ, he does well to embrace this doctrine of depravity. If he thinks his choice to follow Jesus is nothing but a clever act on his part, he will at best steal glory from God and at worst not even be saved at all. He needs to strive to believe like Paul, that he is the worst of sinners.

Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners-of whom I am the worst. 1 Timothy 1:15

He needs to not think that he’s just a guy who messes up sometimes and needs a spiritual element in his life, but fundamentally is the worst of scum and villainy. For the believer, accepting his former depravity is essential for understanding a whole host of other crucial doctrines in his Christian walk. For example, appreciating the doctrine of the depravity of man allows for an accurate view of sanctification. In addition, it paves the way to know that God will finish the good work in you because he is the one who began it. It also takes the pressure off of evangelizing because you understand better that God is changing hearts out there. While it is still necessary to pray and share the gospel, it is not up to us to regenerate hearts. That is the work of the Holy Spirit alone. Lastly, I am fairly certain that this doctrine will always be hard for man to come to terms with, but his love for God and others will be proportional to how he views the holiness of God and the depravity of himself.

Category : Author: Bradley Hagan, Theology Applied