We win... but not yet...

This came as a letter from a dear friend of mine...

This week one of our local television stations did a special report on the last surviving soldier from the group that raised the flag over Iwo Jima in World War II. The story told of the extreme bravery and risk it took to get to the top of the mountain that was full of tunnels occupied by the Japanese soldiers.

Most all of us view that photo as symbolic of the end of the battle, the victory is won and the flag goes up to declare it. This is only partly true. The soldiers were able to raise the flag but the battle for Iwo Jima raged on for another 30 days, and thousands of lives were lost in those thirty days. Even though the US soldiers outnumbered the Japanese soldiers by almost three to one, the fighting was fierce and almost 7,000 US Marines lost their lives, out of about 70,000 on the front. The Japanese soldiers knew they faced defeat, outnumbered and effectively cut off from reinforcements. They were instructed to kill ten Marines before they were killed themselves.

It struck me that there is a huge correlation with our spiritual battle today. Christ’s death on Calvary raised the flag of victory, declaring the end. To this day however the enemy is fighting. Knowing they face defeat, they are taking out as many as they can.

Victory is already ours...but not yet.