Then God said, "Let the earth bring forth living creatures after their kind:

       cattle and creeping things and beasts of the earth after their kind;" and it was so.
 

       And God made the beasts of the earth after their kind, and the cattle after their kind,

       and everything that creeps on the ground after its kind; and God saw that it was good (Genesis 1:24-25).
 

 

God created every species to reproduce "after their kind." It is noteworthy that a fundamental aspect of the theory of evolution is that species evolved, but to date there is not a single record of one species being able to mate with another species and bring forth offspring that can reproduce. You can mate a horse with a donkey and bring forth mules, but mules cannot reproduce. This is a law that God set in the genetic code of His creation in order to preserve the uniqueness of each creature.

 

The Lord so loves diversity that He made every snowflake different. He made every tree and person different. His creativity continues to expand with every new plant or creature that is brought forth. Even when Jesus walked the earth, He never healed people the same way twice. In every new setting He had a different message. There is a newness and freshness to God every day. Walking with Him is to be in a continual state of awe and marvel. Yet, the foundation of this exploding creativity is set within boundaries that allow it to flow in a beautiful and orderly symmetry, not chaos.

 

This also brings up an interesting question about whether God intended for there to be a mingling of the human races. It is important that the special gifts and characteristics which God imparted to races and cultures be preserved, so that they can make their contribution to the revelation of God. He made man in His image for the purpose of revealing Himself to the natural creation, and it takes the combined gifts of all races and cultures for God to fully reveal Him. However, the boundary that was to be protected in order for all to reproduce "after their kind" was the boundary of species, not races. Since races can join and their offspring continue to reproduce, this indicates that it does not violate the Lord's original purpose. The mingling of races brings forth new revelations of His creativity within the bounds He has set.

 

As stated, those who are becoming like the Lord will obviously love creativity. Those who know the blessed Creator, and are becoming like Him, should be creative. We should love diversity, and yet respect order and purpose. When properly combined, we will be much closer to becoming like Him.

 

If we have His heart for diversity and creativity, whenever we meet someone who is different from us, we will be open and expectant of learning something, not closed and fearful. One of the distinguishing characteristics between the "sheep and goats" is when the Lord came to them as a stranger, and the sheep took Him in (see Matthew 25:32-36). The Greek word translated "stranger" is xenos (xen'-os), which is literally a "foreigner or alien." The Lord often comes to us through those who are different from us. If we are not open to them, we will not be open to Him either.

 

In Mark 16, we have the story of the two men on the road to Emmaus who could not recognize the Lord because it says that "He appeared in a different form to two of them" (see Mark 16:12). He obviously did this purposely so that they would recognize Him after the Spirit, and not just appearance. It is also likely that the main reason why we often fail to recognize Him when He tries to draw near to us is that He often comes to us in forms that we are not used to. If we are a Baptist, He may come to us as a Pentecostal. If we are a Charismatic, He may come to us as a Baptist, etc. He is continually trying to break down the barriers of our religious racism.

 

Racism is born from the two great evils of pride and fear. It is an ultimate form of pride when we believe we are better than others because of our race. Religious racism is the belief that we are better than others because we are a part of a certain denomination or movement. As James 4:6 declares, "God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble." Such pride can be one of the most destructive forces in our lives. It will also turn us into one of those that the Lord referred to as "goats," because we will refuse to open our hearts to those who are different from us. Racism can be rooted in either pride or fear, but both are evil, and both are contrary to the love of God that is the foundation of all truth.