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I am black, but comely, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, as the tents fo Kedar, as the curtains of Solomon. Song of Solomon 1:5

What if scripture were not just poetry but prophecy? What if the predominant racial and ethnic composition of the bride of Christ was not Caucasian but as diverse as the peoples of the world? Would that be a problem for you? Probably not for most of the folks I run with (especially those who are not Caucasian) but there are some who will likely be shocked how diverse the bride of Christ is when they get to Heaven.

After all, if there are more Christians in 1Asia per capita than any other continent, then it makes sense that the church doesn’t even look like the ethnic composition of the professing Christians in North America or the U.S.

Of course, I understand in Christ we are new creatures, old things are passed away and all things become new. I also understand that 1 Corinthians 15 teaches us that at the resurrection, illumination, not Adamic composition, will be the primary concern. There is, however, a practical application to my meditation. Regardless of your racial, ethnic, political, cultural or national composition, make every effort to reach those who do not look, speak, think, eat or live as you.

It is when we seek diversity, we catch a glorious glimpse of the love of God for Adam’s fallen race and the difficulties Jesus endured to reconcile fallen man. God went to great lengths to span the chasm between divinity and humanity. None of Adam’s children bear Christ’s image until they receive Christ, the express image of God (Heb 1:3), as their Lord and Savior.

That is why born-again Christians and local New Testament churches are commanded to go to all nations. “All nations” describes the impact of sin upon Adam’s fallen race. It also describes the scope and sufficiency of Christ’s redemptive power. Just as the only race that is cursed in the New Testament is Adam’s, all men no matter what their ethnic and racial composition may have life in Christ, the last Adam. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. 1 Corinthians 15:22

So many think God is color blind. That is to sell God short. He is colorful, take a glimpse of his throne in Revelation 4:3 and you will see that when we get to Heaven and the light of God’s glory radiates through the precious stones and reflects off the gold and silver surrounding the throne. This will make the best and most magnificent concert light show we have on earth, complete with disco balls, look like the child’s play they are. It is my belief that the beauty and diversity of the body of Christ and the limitless power of the gospel upon all nations, tongues, kindreds and people will not be fully recognized or appreciated until we are all gathered before the illuminating light of God’s glory at his throne.

I’m thankful for the racial harmony and diversity we experience through the gospel and in the body of Christ today. There are forces at work that would like to divide Christ’s diverse and beautiful body so we are not effective in accomplishing the Lord’s will. The church and her members in particular cannot allow that to happen.

Recently, there have been several good discussions among our fellowship of churches, I will reference at the end of the article, that are worth listening to if you want to have a better understanding of how our identity in Christ is the key to our unity. It will take eternity to appreciate the glory that God intended in our diversity. The gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ is not about reconciling diverse races for the sake of racial harmony, diversity or social justice. The gospel is about reconciliation of sinners to God through the blood of Christ, who loves all men everywhere and demonstrated it by sacrificing his life for theirs.

Social justice issues get solved quickly when we realize that humanity is not just and can only be justified in Christ. All the angst, contention and injustice that doesn’t get worked out now through the gospel will get settled by the time we arrive at Revelation 19. Either way, Jesus Christ settles it all because he is all powerful and has all authority and is the creator and sustainer of all things.

When Solomon saw his gentile bride, who happened to be black, he found her ravishing. So too, does Christ the church. Mankind as a whole will be better served to focus on where it is going rather than on where they come from. At the end of the day, we are either claiming the corrupt heritage of the first Adam or looking longingly for the last Adam who, though nothing like us, has redeemed us, and will soon call us to his celestial home. O daughters of Jerusalem take note, the love of God was not as you imagined but was greater than you could have ever grasped.

Below are links to various messages on Christ’s sufficiency in relation to race relations.

[1]https://www.lausanne.org/lgc-transfer/number-of-evangelicals-worldwide. "Using this method, Operation World states that there are about 550 million evangelicals worldwide in 2010. OW claims that North America is the most evangelical continent in the world, but Asia contains the most evangelicals (followed by Africa and North America). This parallels the shift of global Christianity to the south throughout the twentieth century. The Evangelical center of gravity has shifted from the North Atlantic Ocean in 1910 to Burkina Faso in 2010, which is even further south than the Christian center of gravity in Mali."