Reviewed by Anthony Ballard

Any Christian who has spent time engaging in racial justice work has been told to "just preach the Gospel."

When a friend of mine told me to "just preach the Gospel" it panged me because I knew that preaching the Gospel was the most important message of the Christian faith. I believed racial justice was a key part of the Gospel, however, all I really knew about the Gospel was that it leads to personal salvation. I felt stuck. So, I began to ask the question, what is the Gospel and how does it have something to say about the movement for racial justice?

This led me to a rereading of the Gospels and seeking supporting resources about the Kingdom of God.

Enter: Kingdom Come.

Author Allen Mitsuo Wakabayashi helps us recapture the most prominent message of Jesus' earthly ministry, His Gospel (good news) of the Kingdom of God. As you read this book, you'll see that Wakabayashi went on a similar rediscovery of the essence of the Gospel that I did and actually wrote a book about it.

Kingdom Come is an engaging introduction to Kingdom theology as it expands our understanding of the Gospel from only being about personal salvation and how we get to Heaven, but instead Heaven (and all that entails) coming to Earth through Jesus the Messiah. Wakabayashi isn't making up new thought, but he's helping us rediscover an ancient and absolutely essential aspect of our faith.

The question the book presents is, "Does God actually want to change the world?" and how do we, His people, fit in that plan? The book answers that question, and then some.

A kingdom is a government, and God's Kingdom is set to cover the whole Earth. That means there cannot and will not be injustice anywhere at any level when God's Kingdom is fully flourishing.

Kingdom Come will help us communicate the story of the Gospel as we are becoming healers of injustice without avoiding or compromising our essential message that Jesus is King—because this king transforms souls and systems.

"The good news of the kingdom of God is that God came to fix it all—our relationship with God, our relationships with each other and the harmony of the created order. So Jesus died not simply so that lost individuals could go to heaven but so that all of creation would be redeemed! God really is out to change the world!" – Allen Mitsuo Wakabayashi