Perhaps Genesis reads as such a simple story because our minds could never fully grasp the true complexities of creation. God has given us the intellect to explore and learn about the world around us, yet we will eventually reach a point beyond which we cannot go, a realm of mystery the human mind cannot comprehend. At that point, some recognise the hand of a divine Creator, while others are left without resolution.

For this article in my new series, Truths Foretold, I want to turn to the creation of humanity. At the heart of the Genesis account is a truth that resonates across both science and faith. Humanity begins with one man and one woman, the origin from which all people have descended.

Science also affirms this unity. All women and men on the Earth today hold the same DNA that trace back to a “Mitochondrial Eve” or “Y-Chromosomal Adam” (Wells, 2002). This means your ancestors and mine meet somewhere along the same line. We share origins with our colleagues, the strangers we pass, the homeless person on the street and even those we might consider our enemies. I explore this more fully in my article Race Not Races, which shows how these findings dismantle the myth of racial divisions.

What I want to highlight here is the only certain biological difference God declared at humanity’s creation. “Male and female He created them” (Genesis 1:26). The only intentional, biological distinction God ever made between humans is that of gender. Apart from gender, God made no other biological separation within humanity. God never said “black and white He created them” or “Hispanic and Asian He created them.” He only said “male and female He created them.”

This truth shows how superficial our other earthly differences truly are. To think that people have exploited or misconstrued a person’s abilities because of these superficial differences, goes entirely against how God sees them. Arguably, it is difficult to treat others as they should be without recognising that their Spirit is made in God’s image. Superficial differences such as skin colour, hair texture and eye colour reflect the climate and geography encountered as humanity sojourned across the globe, not separate kinds of humans. These traits evolved as small groups adapted to their environments. However, it is important to recognise how they have been and still continue to be misused to justify social injustices.

The only biological distinction God makes clear in the Bible is that of gender, every other difference is an adaptation, not a separation. Recognising this allows us to see our shared Godly identity and worth, a truth which, had it been correctly understood in the past, might have spared humanity much suffering. We are one people, one family in Christ, individually created by God. In Galatians 3:28, Paul reminds us that male and female divisions are not intended to separate us for “we are all one in Christ”.

Our outward physical bodies are temporary and limited but within each of us is a Spirit created in the likeness of God. How this will be revealed in heaven we cannot fully know. Yet God assures us that whether male or female, black or white, tall or short, we are all one in Christ Jesus. It is one of the profound mysteries of the Kingdom that we are at once alike and distinct, distinct in gender to fulfil particular purposes, yet equal in Spirit, both equipped to carry out the works of God. 

References

Wells, S., 2002. A Journey of Man: A Genetic Odyssey. Princeton University Press, Princeton.