Iain Campbell deals with the seven spiritual wonders of the world, as against the normal idea of seven physical wonders. They are creation, redemption, inheritance, incarnation, resurrection, Pentecost and Christ’s glorious appearing. A chapter is allocated to each wonder, and the whole book is marked by clarity and conciseness.
The author’s intent is to bring the wonders of these seven works of God before our spiritual eyes – to instruct our minds, move our hearts, and change our lives.
Mr Campbell helpfully interacts with recent evangelical literature which claims that penal substitution is not biblical but derives from 19th century Western views of law and punishment. Campbell’s response is that we cannot escape the Bible’s insistence that the glorious truth of penal substitution lies at the heart of the atoning work of Jesus.
He likens the significance of the resurrection to D-Day as the guarantee of victory and the end of World War II. He states: ‘There is a sense in which the resurrection of Jesus, as a pivotal point of history and the climactic point of revelation, functions in that way. Without it no victory can be hoped for or anticipated’.
In the latter part of the book, he deals with the almost forgotten work of the seal of the Spirit and deals wonderfully with sanctification, another equally forgotten truth. It should drive us back to Campbell’s sources of Octavius Winslow and George Smeaton, as well as to the Scriptures. He leaves us with a searching and challenging thought to ponder in our own day – ‘The age of the Holy Spirit is not a lawless age.’
In a final chapter, considering the ‘What now?’ question, the author drives us back to three necessities – reading the Bible; Bible-believing gospel-preaching churches; and the need to grow in the knowledge of the Christian faith.
This is an excellent book not only to be read, but also to be kept at hand to refer to from time to time.
