One Blood, Many Colors: God’s Design for Human Diversity

I get tired of hearing the argument: “Jesus was black.” Or “No, Jesus was white.”

Let’s be honest: Jesus was neither. He was a first-century Jewish man, born in Bethlehem, raised in Nazareth, walking the dust of Israel. He wasn’t Scandinavian. He wasn’t sub-Saharan African. He was Middle Eastern Jewish, olive to brown skin, dark hair, Semitic features. The only reason people try to paint Him “black” or “white” is because we want Him to look like us. But the real Jesus transcends skin tone.

The Origin Question: Where Did Humanity Begin?

The Biblical Record

Eden’s location: Genesis places the Garden of Eden at the headwaters of four rivers, including the Tigris and Euphrates (Genesis 2:10–14). That’s Mesopotamia — modern Iraq, not Africa.
After the Flood: Humanity restarted with Noah’s family, who settled again in the Mesopotamian region (Genesis 9–10).
Tower of Babel: In Genesis 11, God scattered the nations by language. That scattering is what led to distinct cultures and, over time, visible differences.

Archaeological Support

Civilizations like Sumer, Akkad, Babylon, and Assyria all rose from Mesopotamia. This is why history books often call it the “cradle of civilization.” Africa has incredible ancient history (Egypt, Nubia, Cush), but the biblical and archaeological witness both point back to Mesopotamia as the starting point.

Skin Tone is Adaptation, Not Creation

Science agrees with Scripture: we are one blood (Acts 17:26). What makes us look different today isn’t separate creation, it’s adaptation.

Melanin: Darker skin provides natural protection against strong equatorial sun.
Lighter skin: Evolved in northern climates to absorb Vitamin D in low sunlight.
Features: Eye folds, hair texture, body shape, all are environmental adaptations over time.

Think about it: if you live in Norway for thousands of years, you won’t stay dark-skinned because the environment doesn’t require it. If you live in Nigeria for thousands of years, you won’t stay pale because you’d burn. This is adaptation, God’s built-in survival design.

Ethnicity vs. Creation

Here’s where we get confused:

God created humanity.
Babel scattered languages and cultures.
Geography shaped appearance.

Ethnicity is not creation, it’s the combination of culture, language, and environment. That’s why you don’t find “native Swedes in Nigeria” or “native Nigerians in Sweden.” People adapt to their environment, but they’re still the same creation.

What Did Jesus Look Like?

Archaeology and anthropology give us clues:

Average Jewish men in the first century: about 5’5” tall, 130–150 pounds, dark hair, olive-brown skin.
Skeletons and burial remains from that era in Israel match this description.
Isaiah even prophesied that the Messiah wouldn’t stand out physically: “He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to Him, nothing in His appearance that we should desire Him.” (Isaiah 53:2)

So no, Jesus wasn’t blond-haired and blue-eyed like medieval European paintings. And no, He wasn’t black in the modern cultural sense. He was Jewish, and His Jewish identity mattered because He had to fulfill prophecy as the Son of David.

The Lesson

We are one blood. Acts 17:26 makes it clear. Skin tone doesn’t divide creation.
Adaptation explains diversity. God designed us to thrive wherever we went.
Identity is not in skin but in Christ. When we argue over Jesus’ race, we miss His mission.

📖 “A great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people, and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb.” (Revelation 7:9)

That’s the endgame: not one race against another, but one redeemed humanity united before Christ.

✍️ Final Thought
God didn’t create “races.” He created mankind. Ethnicity is culture. Skin tone is adaptation. Our true identity is not black or white, it is in Christ Jesus, the Jewish Messiah who came for all.

Troy P Zehnder