What Color is God? ..

In Bible School, we've been discussing: "What color is God?" Yeah, you read that right.. It has been wonderful and fascinating! My pastor is the coolest! This inquiry may sound like a strange one, but in today's day and age, it seems to be one of significance. Why should we approach such a thing? Because contrary to those with their heads in the sand, racism is still alive and well - it even exists in the church! Wait.. allow me to rephrase that - IT ESPECIALLY EXISTS IN THE CHURCH. My pastor says that "Sunday morning is the most segregated hour of the week!" He's right. Black churches, white churches, Filipino churches, you name it - there's a genre for every color, race and creed. But is this right? I don't think so; it only further perpetuates the "sad schism story" we recently discussed. Such bigotry obviously does not fit a child of God. The Bible says that we (believers) are a "new creation". This Greek word is "species" (see 2 Cor 5:17). This new species, Paul says, "is NEITHER GREEK NOR JEW, circumcision nor uncircumcision, BARBARIAN, SCYTHIAN, bond nor free: BUT CHRIST IS ALL, AND IN ALL" (Col 3:11). We aren't to be solely spiritually associated with those of our own kingdoms anymore. Rather, we are now made "after the image of Him" that created us (Col 3:10). Jesus said, "Who is my mother? and who are my brethren? And he stretched forth his hand toward his disciples, and said, Behold my mother and my brethren! For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother" (Matt 12:48-50). He even told us to comparatively "hate" our own natural families (see Lk 14:26; Matt 10:37; 19:29). In another place, it says to "FORGET also thine own people, and thy father's house" (Ps 45:10). Of course this seems radical, but why are we asked to do such a thing? Doesn't that seem a bit harsh? Most would think so. But doesn't the apostle Paul inform us that "There is NEITHER JEW NOR GREEK, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for YE ARE ALL ONE in Christ Jesus" (Gal 3:28)? Yet, nonetheless, we are separated like cattle towards different colored feeding troughs.. waiting to be fed our particular genre of spiritual hay! This is crazy, no?

So why do the Scriptures seem to be so against this popular method of "segregated Churchianity"? Well, of course racism is a sin. We cannot truly love all of God's people all the while feeling superior to them. How are we to sacrificially love anyone while harboring hatred in our hearts? Love is the bond of perfection (Col 3:14). But I also believe the Bible advises toward this idea because a carnal and limited nostalgic attachment to one's familiar people will always prove a hindrance to the real move of the Holy Spirit. A limited and humanistic love for "white worship styles" or "black worship styles" will prove a hindrance I can assure you. Don't believe me? Have you tried it lately? A carnal preference to "black styled" preaching may keep you from hearing the Word of God for your life, and vice-versa. It may distract you from your true "father" in the Lord (1 Cor 4:15). "How could God give a white man an African-American spiritual father?", we might ask.. Well, to be quite honest, God can do whatever He feels like. He knows what you need to grow up and mature. He has gifted those over you.. skin color and culture is 100% irrelevant when speaking of God's kingdom. Our own kingdoms? Yes, it seems to be relevant.. but not with God's kingdom. His Kingdom is encompassed with radical love for all races! Such love knows no petty bigotry; it makes no such earthly judgments.

Sadly, such racist and cultural biases may never even be exposed because we're so engrossed in our own cultures that we never even attempt to branch out. Our subtle racist tendencies are then hidden, and undiscovered. But suppose a "black church" needed a pastor, and you were the man for the job? Could you do it? Would they want you? A carnally nostalgic attachment to one's own race and culture can potentially prevent you from fulfilling the will of God! How scary! Is skin color that important? Shouldn't Christians be FREE? We talk about it all the time, but are we really?

One way I can imagine to break down these walls of racist tendencies is to properly discover the actual "color" of God – We must be careful here not to presume anything upon the Almighty… The Scriptures give us a pretty clear rendering of His divine visage – or at least what man can understand it to be with the use of mere human words. In Scripture, He seems to be no human color; He no longer possesses any human culture, Jesus has been glorified! If He is not a human color, why do we make such a big deal about color and culture? In my humble opinion, this realization will better enable us to see all races as our brothers and sisters, rather than merely some “other” Christian on the outskirts of our individual "culture camp".

So what color is He? Well, we know from history that Jesus was neither black nor white. He was naturally a Jew. He was olive-skinned. Portraits of Jesus as black, white, Native American, etc. decorate the halls of many segregated churches, but is this accurate? No.

Right now, however, I do not believe He is olive-skinned anymore. I believe He is amber, the color of God's glory. Observe:

1. What happened to Jesus on the mount of transfiguration (Matt 17) when He was glorified? He became bright - "His face did shine as the sun" (vs. 2). He was the color of glory!

2. Years after His resurrection, we find Jesus appearing in the book of Revelation. What did He look like then? Was He still olive-skinned? No: "And in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle. His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire; And his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters" (Rev 1:13-15). Years of the revealed presence of God had completely altered His appearance. Daniel tells us His face is as the appearance of lightening, and His limbs are the color of polished brass (Dan 10:6)!

3. Ezekiel paints us a vivid picture of the “appearance” of God. Again it must be understood that Ezekiel was probably so in awe of his vision, that he could scarcely accurately describe what he saw. The nearer he approaches the throne, the less sure his words become! He treaded lightly as he used phrases such as “the appearance of"... “The likeness of a throne…” “The appearance of a man”, etc. Here is the verse: "And above the firmament that was over their heads was the likeness of a throne, as the appearance of a sapphire stone: and upon the likeness of the throne was the likeness as the appearance of a man above upon it. And I saw AS THE COLOR OF AMBER, as the appearance of fire round about within it, from the appearance of his loins even upward, and from the appearance of his loins even downward, I saw as it were the appearance of fire, and it had brightness round about" (1:26-27). This idea is further accredited by many other Scriptures (Dan 7:9; Ezek 8:2; Acts 26:13; Rev 1:12-15; 2:18; Ps 50:2; etc). He was and is the “color of glory”! We too will look this way, even as Moses' and Jesus' visage was changed by the presence of God.

4. What happened to Moses when he was in the revealed presence of God for 40 days? He came down the mountain, and his face shown; it glowed (See Exod 34:29). He was the color of glory - his visage altered as Jesus' was!

Another method to crash this false understanding is to realize that we all began in ONE image, and we too will end in ONE image. Genesis 1:26-27 says, "And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness... So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them." Notice it wasn't "white man" or "black man" that was created in God's image, rather, it was "man" in general. There were no differing colors; we all were one (some scholars believe him to have been reddish in color). It wasn't until after the flood that such division arrived on the seen. Ham, Shem and Japheth became the fathers of the earth's many races (see Gen 10). Dispersion at the tower of Babel was the beginning of racism (see Gen 11). What a shame that it still exists so many thousands of years later.

So how shall we all end? We will end as ONE also: "For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed TO THE IMAGE OF HIS SON..." (Rom 8:29). Paul explains how our earthly "bodies" are the effect of sinful corruption (see Phil 3:21). Do you agree? Paul clearly likens our now earthly bodies to that of corruption: "Now this I say, brethren, that FLESH AND BLOOD cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth CORRUPTION inherit incorruption" (1 Cor 15:50). It's true. However, it will not always be this way. The earthly will one day appear as the heavenly, that is, in brightness - the very visage of the Son! No mere earthly color will equip us! The glory that will encompass us will be far greater than anything the earth has ever seen, more glorious even to the glory that shone on Moses' face (see 2 Cor 3:7-12)! Believers are now groaning for this "better covering" (2 Cor 5:2-4). We patiently wait. Oh how I long for the harvest of what has been planted! This harvest will be so dramatically different than the seed from which it sprang that anything earthly will crumble in awe at its sight (see 1 Cor 15:35-43)!

So what's my point? My point is, we all will one day look alike. Our individual colors and cultures will be obsolete! So why not start now? What a wonderful testimony to the world this would be! Onlookers would observe former racists worshipping side by side, seeing one another with the visage of God - the visage of glory - totally ignorant of the fact that they sprang from different lifestyles, cultures, colors and climates. Surely this maturity is part of going "on unto perfection" (Heb 6:1), and surely neglecting this principle is hindering the move of God! We all will one day shine like the glory of the stars (See 1 Cor 15:41-42), so shouldn't we deal with our fleshly biases now? Shouldn't we view each other through the eyes of the Almighty? Jesus would have it so, no doubt (see Jn 17:20). Let's not use our adhesiveness to our individual cultures to excuse us from true and genuine fellowship with the KINGDOM of God. This kingdom is to be our NEW culture, our NEW species and our NEW kindred.. we even have a NEW tongue!