“I figured out way back if God is all-powerful, He cannot be all good. And if He is all good, then He cannot be all-powerful. And neither can you be.” – Lex Luthor (Batman V. Superman: Dawn of Justice)
Now, while I know that this is “only a movie”, I believe that we have all taken, and applied some worldviews from movies that we’ve seen, and absolutely love. Obviously, I was able to see Batman V. Superman: Dawn of Justice (BVS) this weekend, and despite Rotten Tomatoes, I enjoyed the movie as a film (…Despite Doomsday). I understand that DC is in competition w/ Marvel, and needs to produce a handful of characters at once to set up The Justice League as a future rival for The Avengers once in theaters. I understood the need for fast-paced scenes without in-depth story-line. Affleck did amazing as a seasoned/weathered Batman, and Eisenberg brought a fresh take to Lex Luthor as a brilliant, but severely damaged man. Which brings me to the reason for this blog. What I did NOT like was how the character of God was dragged through the mud by the sinful misconceptions of the movies’ screen writers.
My blog opens w/ a line by Lex Luthor where he is speaking to Superman, and reveals the reason for his motivations as the movies’ antagonist. Lex shares with Superman a childhood pain where his father was mentally, and physically abusive, and while he sought for divine intervention from his abuse, it never came. As a result, his mind, though brilliant, has been permanently scarred, and would come to shape his character as an adult. As a result, when Lex Luthor learns of Superman, he sees an all-powerful being (resembling God), is reminded of his traumatic childhood and of the all-powerful being that never came to his rescue. Lex then sets out to fulfill his revenge against God by killing Superman. His rationale is that for God to be all powerful, He cannot be all good, because an all-powerful being, for Him to remain all-powerful, would need to do bad. Therefore, if God were all good, He could not be all-powerful, because an all-powerful being does bad, which is the opposite of all good. You need an aspirin after that one? -_^
Is Lex Luther’s rationale true or is it simply another attempt by man to make sense of God? To have such a low concept of God, and such a high concept of self already poses an issue with this philosophy. In Job 33:12, Scripture states, “God is greater than man.” His thoughts are not our thoughts, and ways are higher than ours (Isa. 55:8). He is in the heavens, and does whatever He pleases (Ps. 115:3). Now while this may offend some, I would remind you that you too are a creation of God, in His image, and are created to bear His glory (Gen. 1:26-27). Unfortunately, since the Fall of man (Gen. 3), the consequence for Adam’s rebellion was for that rebellious nature to be spread from Adam throughout all of humanity (Rom. 5:12). Since then, mankind has consistently chosen to suppress the truth of God’s existence (Rom. 1:18) to satisfy the lusts of their own unrighteousness. Thus, as men seek to suppress the reason for their existence, and replace it with their own god-complex, they build their own skewed misconceptions of who, and how God is. Which is where we find Lex Luthor.
In BvS, Lex Luthor’s misconception of God is explained as stemming from childhood abuses, and I am sure that there are many people who have done the same thing, because of there own hurts, pains, and struggles. This emotional self-defining of God, regardless of the painful emotions involved, is wrong, and reveals the dire importance of systematic theology for the sake of people’s self-worth, and their understanding of the effects of sin in this fallen world. God is indeed all-powerful, and with an all-powerful God, He COULD have been an all evil God. But that’s not who the God of the Bible is. All that God is and does is good (Ps. 119:68), and last forever (Ps. 107:1). God is also immutable (Mal. 3:6, Ps. 102: 25-27), and is not subject to change. So if God is naturally good, his goodness lasts forever, and will never change, then how could we ever conclude that an all-powerful God cannot be good? The answer is because we want to explain the hurt in our lives, yet not take responsibility for sin. The truth is that sin is real, and people (all of us) are naturally evil, because of Adam’s sin. We all have the ability to sin, and be an abuser in someone else’s life (and I’m sure we may have been at some point). This sin has been dealt with at the cross of Jesus Christ, but to be free of sin, we must repent of it, and trust in the One who made us for His good will, and purpose to be done. We must stop with our “god-complex”, and bend our knee to the only God that exists (Isa. 43:10). It is only when we confront our own sinful nature whereby we could feel the weights of burden lifted off of our shoulders, and bear the light burden of Jesus Christ as our Lord, and Savior (Matt. 11:28-29).
#SolusChristus
AnchoredCoffeeBowties 
Leave a comment