Bible Question:

Will heaven be multicultural? Will it have different races?

Bible Answer:

People from all races and cultures will be present in heaven. The following verses indicate that God does not care about their race or culture. He loves everyone throughout the world.

For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. John 3:16 (NASB)

The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance. 2 Pet 3:9 (NASB)

For example, God sent the Jewish prophet Jonah to preach to Gentiles who were living in Nineveh, even thought some Jews hated them. After Jesus’ death and return to life, the disciple Philip preached to an Ethiopian eunuch (Acts 8:25-40). The apostle Peter preached to a Gentile (Acts 10). God sent the apostle Paul to preach to Gentiles who lived in Asia Minor (Acts 13:1-28), Macedonia (Acts 16:1-17:15), and Greece (Acts 17:16-22). The apostle Paul was a Jew who had lived in Judea. God has not only said that He loves the world, He has also demonstrated that He does by His actions.

God is not a man, that He should lie, Nor a son of man, that He should repent; Has He said, and will He not do it? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good? Numbers 23:19 (NASB)

Consequently, there will be people from every race and culture in heaven. But will they be practicing their culture and will they have their original skin color? The answer is most likely no. God created one couple originally and it was not until the Tower of Babel that God confused the peoples of the world spreading them across the globe. At that time He confused their language and scrambled skin colors. This suggests that God’s original design was a people of one skin color, language and culture. Only after the events at Babel did that change. God’s original plan is not what exists today.

Conclusion:

The ultimate answer to your question is found in Revelation 21-22 which describes the new heaven and earth. In Revelation 21:24 we are told that people from the various nations will be in heaven. That is, those who believe in Jesus Christ and follow Him will live there for eternity. But the culture of heaven will be God’s culture. Everything is new. Heaven and earth will be new. The old will have disappeared and the new will have come. Sin will be gone and racial prejudices and alliances will be gone. We will be different people too! We will have new immortal bodies. Our focus will not on each other but on God. We will worship and enjoy God so much that we will not care about the culture and race issues of our former lives. Listen to these words,

There will no longer be any curse; and the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and His bond-servants will serve Him; they will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads. And there will no longer be any night; and they will not have need of the light of a lamp nor the light of the sun, because the Lord God will illumine them; and they will reign forever and ever. Rev 22:3-5 (NASB)

Suggested Links:

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