Fixing Past Mistakes
By Anthony Casperson
11-14-26

I know it’s a little late in the news cycle, but I’ve been thinking a decent amount about the video game developer Bioware recently. And don’t worry, I’m not going to get into the debates about why they were closed down recently.

Rather, it’s because remembering some of my favorite games from the company aligned with something I came across in my daily devotional reading of the bible this week, so I figured I’d share.

When the original Mass Effect game came out in 2007, Bioware had tried to blend third-person shooter mechanics with classic RPG leveling systems. It was an interesting blend of mechanics that had several fun additions to the gameplay. However, there was at least one area where this blend failed miserably.

The RPG leveling for the game’s martial combat made the experience seem unplayable for quite a few players. And even I, a person who rarely plays third-person shooter games and very much prefers the incremental RPG leveling systems, had to sigh at it.

In order for the player’s character to aim Shepherd’s gun properly, they had to invest heavily in the specific combat skill for that weapon type. Just because you could aim the targeting reticle perfectly with a pistol didn’t mean you could headshot every bad guy with a sniper rifle, or mow down advancing enemies with an assault rifle.

The difficulty was that even if you perfectly centered the target with a weapon—like you can do in any shooter-style video game—the hit was not guaranteed.

And this drove many a player crazy. The game mechanics shouldn’t work this way. If you as a player can aim the reticle, then your character should be able to aim their weapon.

Enter Mass Effect 2 in 2010, and you see that Bioware came out with a sequel that modified the mechanics in order to execute a better example of what they were trying to do. Aiming a weapon was no longer tied to an expanded leveling system. And players could aim properly from the very first shot.

The second was so much better because the designers fixed the problem of the first. And ended up making a much better game, in part, because of it.

I thought about this concept of fixing past mistakes while reading my bible during one morning this week. Although, I do have to admit that the idea of “learning from a mistake” is not the core connection, especially when discussing the non-linearity of the timeless Creator of the universe. So, I’m talking from the perspective of this when it comes to a time-limited human being. Just keep that in mind as we go.

While reading 1 Kings 11, I saw King Solomon go from the wise and righteous worshipper of Yahweh of earlier chapters, to the idolatrous and hedonistic man that he fell into being for quite some time. If we read some of his later writings, like Ecclesiastes, we see that he did learn from the mistakes, just too late.

However, in the specific chapter of 1 Kings 11, it tells us that this came after Solomon married ungodly women, intermixing Yahweh’s people with those who refuse to bow to the God of Israel. It wasn’t the women themselves who caused Solomon’s fall—don’t hear me blaming a biological sex for the leadership and headship failings of the King of Israel—rather, it was Solomon’s refusal to follow the ways of God as he’d been commanded to, including when it came to political alliances with the world around him.

But I do bring up the marital connection of Solomon in this area because it has an interesting parallel to the “sequel” Son of David who sits on the throne of God’s people: Jesus. While Solomon had been meant to be an example of godliness, but fell to idolatry because of his wives, Jesus is the true example of sinless godliness, who instead raises his Bride—the Church—to his own godliness.

The first failed to hit the mark because of foolish intermingling, while the latter shot true from the beginning and only worked to raise the bar of those with him.

When the followers of Jesus consider our role as the Bride of Christ, we see one who leads well and who guides us in relationship with him and with the Father. A bride clothed in fine linen, bright and pure. His holiness lifts us up in justification and sanctification. He sets us apart and makes us no longer be the sinners destined to destruction. Instead, he makes us his beautiful beloved.

Interestingly, this isn’t the only time when Jesus shows his life being a corrective “sequel” either. In 1 Corinthians 15:45-49, Paul juxtaposes the “first Adam” with the “last Adam.” The first man sits next to Jesus as Paul compares them. And while the Apostle specifically talks about how Adam was a physical representation of death among fallen humanity, and Jesus is the spiritual life giver, there is still a connection with the 1 Kings 11 passage when it comes to this contrast of the original with his “sequel.”

Adam also was led astray by his bride’s request that he join her in the sin she’d committed. He could’ve taken leadership seriously. He could’ve said no. Who knows what would’ve happened, but he could’ve. (And again, before anyone says that I’m blaming a biological sex, remember that biblically speaking, the fault and blame of humanity’s fall lands on Adam, not his bride. The responsibility lands on him alone.)

But Jesus as the “last Adam” again shows that he leads us to the life of godliness. His righteous and perfect life while enfleshed in humanity lifts us to his inheritance of God’s kingdom. Jesus’ life, death, burial, and resurrection undoes and fixes the very first mistake of humanity.

He shows the “sequel” to be far greater than the original for every single one of those moments where the shadow and the actual person are compared side by side.

While this intellectual thought might be a wonderful thing to consider, what does it mean for us today? How do we apply the fact that Jesus is better because he fixes the mistakes of earlier examples?

And I think that it again has to do with the concept of the Bride. Rather than allowing ourselves to fall into the idolatrous and sinful actions of those earlier examples, rather than seeking to drag down the holy name of our Beloved, let’s live up to the calling Jesus has for us. Let’s pursue the holiness he showed us is right. Reach up and grab his hand as he and his ways show us what is good and noble and right.

Jesus has showed us how to clothe ourselves in those fine linens, bright and pure. He’s the one who bought and paid for those garments with his blameless blood. Let us wear them with pride in how much his love is shown through them. And also seek to live in line with them.

Let’s not make the same old mistake in a different aspect of the sequel.