“And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth.” (Acts 17:26 ESV)

Today is Martin Luther King Day. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., born January 15, 1929, was a husband, a father, a Baptist pastor, and a civil rights activist. Among his most famous works are his “I Have a Dream” speech and his “Letter from a Birmingham Jail.” Dr. King advocated for the civil rights of all people, equal rights for black people and white people alike. His assassination on April 4, 1968, galvanized the civil rights movement and was a turning point in American history. Following his death, the Martin Luther King, Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change was founded to continue Dr. King’s work for justice.

Dr. King was motivated to advocate for civil rights not only from his experience growing up as a black man in a segregated society, but also by his faith in Jesus Christ. Racial reconciliation was God’s idea. All people from every nation, people group, skin tone, and ethnicity are related. Our family tree traces back to a common ancestry. “And he made from one man every nation of mankind…” There may be different nationalities, a beautiful variety of skin tones, diverse body shapes and sizes, and numerous languages and customs, but there is only one humankind. We share a common ancestor in Adam and a common Savior in Jesus. We have access to the same Father through the same Holy Spirit (provided we’ve received Christ).

This is one of the startling truths the Apostle Paul wrote to the Ephesians. In his context, the racial divide was between Jews and Gentiles (non-Jews). The principle still applies today, even if the nature of the racial conflict is different. In Christ we are one new humanity.

Ephesians 2:13-22 (ESV)

But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.