A Biblical Perspective on Race (part 1)

Genesis 1:26-27; 7:17-21; Genesis 9:1

Over the last couple of weeks I have been in conversations with people on the topic of race. The conflict between the Jews and Palestinians has brought this issue back to the forefront of some people's thinking. I must confess, I have been astounded by the degree of willful ignorance surrounding that conflict. While I probably shouldn't be, I have also been astounded and appalled by the degree of hate towards the Jews by fellow Americans. To be clear, as Christians, we should not hate either side of the conflict. Both are deserving of our prayer, and when wrong, both sides are deserving of our condemnation. That being said, Israel is our ally and should have our unwavering support. With this, it has caused me to do a lot of thinking on the topic of race.

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Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.

Genesis 1:26-27

Now the flood was on the earth forty days. The waters increased and lifted up the ark, and it rose high above the earth. The waters prevailed and greatly increased on the earth, and the ark moved about on the surface of the waters. And the waters prevailed exceedingly on the earth, and all the high hills under the whole heaven were covered. The waters prevailed fifteen cubits upward, and the mountains were covered. And all flesh died that moved on the earth: birds and cattle and beasts and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, and every man.

Genesis 7:17-21

So God blessed Noah and his sons, and said to them: “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth.

Genesis 9:1

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The first reason that division based upon race is ridiculous is because we all have a common ancestry. There are two passages that discuss this. First, we have creation and the story of Adam. God made Adam and Eve. From them, all people were born. Every single person that has ever been born is a result of the family line of Adam and Eve.

As people began to reproduce and fill the earth, sin also increased in the earth. The world became so wicked that God decided to destroy the earth with a flood. He did that in Genesis 7. Only Noah, his wife, their 3 sons, and their son's wives survived the flood in the ark. Then, in Genesis 9, they began reproducing and filling the earth again. Just like with Adam and Eve, all humanity can trace their family tree back to Noah and his wife. The convergence of our family trees is even closer than creation in Genesis 1.

What this means is that race is a human construct solely for the purpose of division. It is an arbitrary division that is not based upon any meaningful differences. There can be reproduction among the races without consequence, and there can be blood transfusions and organ transplants without consequence (excluding disease). That is because we are all from the same family line.

Concerning salvation, this is vital to understand. Not only did Adam and Eve bring us into this world, but Adam passed on to us the sin nature. While this is not something we celebrate, it is our reality. In that same framework of thinking, Jesus came as the second Adam. He did not give to us a sin nature, but rather offered to us salvation and eternal life. What the first Adam messed up, the second Adam (Jesus) redeemed. Our common ancestry is what makes that salvation available to all humanity, and not just the Jews.

To argue against this common ancestry is actually to make an argument that there is no salvation for anyone who is not a Jew. Since most of the racial tension in the U.S. is between "blacks" and "whites" we are making an argument that there is no salvation for either of us. I do not think either side wants to make that argument. So, the debate needs to end; for the sake of the gospel!

Father, we praise You for the variety of Your creation. I look at the variety of colors of feathers with my parakeets and yet they are all the same type of bird. You did the same thing with humans, but we use it to fight. I pray that Your children would stand for truth and not be part of this pointless division.