Races And Nations

Races and Nations

The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into [the New Jerusalem]. . . . The glory and honor of the nations will be brought into it.

— Revelation 21:24, 26

As the Lamb of God he will draw all of the goods, artifacts, and instruments of culture to himself; the kings of the earth will return their authority and power to the Lamb who sits upon the throne; Jesus is the one whose blood has purchased a multi-national community, composed of people from every tribe and tongue and nation. His redemptive ministry . . . is cosmic in scope.^a

— RICHARD MOUW

Will we have ethnic and national identities in Heaven? I believe the biblical answer is yes.

Is the risen Jesus Jewish? Certainly. He will continue to be a descendant of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and David. (The fact that he’s of the line of David is an essential part of his claim to kingship in Jerusalem.) Will we know Christ is Jewish? Of course. Will our new bodies, which are our old bodies raised to new life and health and vibrancy, still have a genetic code that includes the markers of our ethnic descent? I think so—this continuity is part of what makes our bodies truly ours. I see no reason to believe that our resurrection bodies won’t have DNA that is intricately designed by God. Our resurrected DNA will be unflawed, but it will preserve our God-designed unique characteristics, racial and otherwise.

Here’s what the Bible says: “And they sang a new song with these words: ‘You are worthy. . . . Your blood has ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation. And you have caused them to become a Kingdom of priests for our God. And they will reign on the earth’ ” (Revelation 5:9-10, NLT). Who will serve as the New Earth’s kings and priests? Not people who were formerly of every tribe, language, people, and nation, but people who still have these distinctives.

It appears that not only racial but also national distinctions will continue into the eternal Heaven. How do we know this? Because Revelation 21:24-26 unmistakably speaks of nations on the New Earth: “The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into [the New Jerusalem]. On no day will its gates ever be shut, for there will be no night there. The glory and honor of the nations will be brought into it.” The “splendor” here is likely cultural treasures brought as tribute to Jesus, the King of kings, seated on the throne in Jerusalem.

In Revelation 5:9-10, the word tribe refers to a person’s clan and family lineage. The word people often refers to race, and nation refers to those who share a national identity and culture. I believe it is a mistake to view nations and races merely as products of the tower of Babel. As our sovereign Creator, God glorifies himself in our distinctive identities and our unity that transcends them.

Herman Bavinck says of the New Earth, “All those nations— each in accordance with its own distinct national character—bring into the new Jerusalem all they have received from God in the way of glory and honor.”^b

Like the current, earthly Jerusalem, the New Jerusalem will be a melting pot of ethnic diversity. But unlike the current city, the groups in the New Jerusalem will be united by their common worship of King Jesus. They will delight in each other’s differences, and never resent or be frightened by them.

Unfortunately, in this world under the Curse, there’s often hostility between races and nations. We’re divided by sin and intolerant of differences in appearance, language, and culture. Of the racial divide between Jews and Gentiles, Paul says, “For [Christ] himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility. . . . His purpose was to create in himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace, and in this one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility” (Ephesians 2:14-16).

Christ died for our sins of racism. His work on the cross put racism to death. The redemption of mankind and the earth will include the redemption of human relationships and the uniting of different people groups in Christ. Racist groups that purport to be Christian are the opposite of Christian. There will be no racial prejudice in Heaven. There will be no illusions of ethnic or national superiority, no disputes over borders.

Some scholars argue that the image of God has a corporate dimension: “There is no one human individual or group who can fully bear or manifest all that is involved in the image of God, so that there is a sense in which that image is collectively possessed. The image of God is, as it were, parceled out among the peoples of the earth. By looking at different individuals and groups, we get glimpses of different aspects of the full image of God.”^c

If this is true, and I believe it may be, then racism is not only an injustice toward people but also a rejection of God’s very nature. On the New Earth, we’ll never celebrate sin, but we’ll celebrate diversity in the biblical sense. We’ll never try to keep people out. We’ll welcome them in, exercising hospitality to every traveler.

Peace on Earth will be rooted in our common ruler, Christ the King, who alone is the source of “glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased” (Luke 2:14, NASB). Peace on Earth will not be accomplished by the abolition of our differences but by a unifying loyalty to the King, a loyalty that transcends our differences and is enriched by them. We have so much to learn from each other, and there is so much to be learned about God from the distinct characteristics he has built into the different races and nations.

Are you excited by the idea of racial and national distinctions on the New Earth? How do you think God will be glorified by those distinctions?

Father, thank you that a world awaits us in which the best of every culture and heritage of humanity will be preserved and that everything that dishonors you will be destroyed forever. Thank you that we will forever enjoy the richness of being fellow citizens in your Kingdom, with people of every tribe and nation and language. What a delight it will be to see your character revealed more clearly through different people groups. Help us to dedicate our prayers and our money and our service to the cause of world missions, that we may be your instruments to reach people for Jesus from every tribe, nation, and language. Help us to treat those who are different from us with the deepest respect, including racial minorities and immigrants in our communities, schools, and workplaces. May we be your ambassadors to those who don’t know you, and may they find in you what they are looking for deep in their hearts.