The Flag on Iwo Jima

On February 23, 1945, a small group of Marines climbed Mount Suribachi on the island of Iwo Jima and raised the American flag at its summit. The photograph of that moment became one of the most iconic images of World War II. But here is what many people forget — the battle was far from over. Fighting on Iwo Jima raged for another month. Thousands more would fall before the island was secured.

Yet when the troops below saw that flag snapping in the Pacific wind, something shifted. The outcome was no longer in question. The highest ground had been taken. What remained was the working out of a victory already assured.

Paul writes that Christ has been raised from the dead as "the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep." The resurrection of Jesus is the flag planted on the summit of death itself. The Almighty declared through that empty tomb that the highest ground belongs to Him. Death, humanity's oldest and most relentless enemy, has lost its grip on the peak.

And yet we still live in the "mopping up" phase of history. Grief still stings. Loss still wounds. But the outcome is settled. "For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive." One by one, every enemy — sorrow, decay, death itself — will be put under His feet.

The flag is already flying. The victory is already won.