The Battle Won

Ever since I was a kid, I was interested in history. It might be because my dad's a bit of a history buff, but, for whatever reason, I've always been intrigued with going to places that are a huge part of the past. That's why I love hanging around ruins, old barns, and age-old walkways. Call it creepy, but I'm fascinated with the fact that someone from hundreds of years ago had walked the same steps and touched the same objects that I am in the present day.

Well, last semester I took a class called American History. This course further increased my interest in the past. The teacher, who presented history as realistically as she could, (in other words, filled with hate, crime, and very inglorious acts) made the subject fascinating for me.

Well, one of the biggest parts of American History is a little war called the War of 1812. (I use the word "little" sarcastically. Many people died.) In it, the fairly young United States of America went to battle with the British Empire for reasons of continued oppression and impressment. (If you don't know what I'm talking about, follow this link.)

Well, to make a short story shorter, the good ole US won. Yay. 

But wait! There's more!

It turns out that the war was still being fought even after a war-ending treaty was signed by both countries. This was made evident in the Battle of New Orleans. Oh, sure the battle was a great success for the Americans! The British had 2,000 casualties while the Americans only had 71! I would call that a landslide. It was this battle that made Andrew Jackson a hero and eventually led him to the presidency! However, the only reason that the battle occurred was because the information that the war was over had not yet reached US soil. In other words, it was one of the most famous battles that didn't need to happen.

"So what does this have to do with God?" you ask.

Well, the War of 1812 is a little bit like the war going on in our own lives. Now, when I say war, I refer to the spiritual war. Ephesians 6 says,"For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places." Each of these bolded terms refers to different types of demonic spiritual forces.

Now, I've spoken before about this whole war-being-over-and-still-fighting concept, but I wanted to go further with the idea. Since the end-of-war treaty was signed with blood at the Cross, we can treat our battles with the enemy as last-breath attacks of a dying force. Under the power and in the name of Jesus Christ, our battles become no more than simply telling Satan and his forces to go to Hell. And since our perspective is now one of victory, we do not have to be afraid of demonic forces any more than a lion has to be afraid of a mouse.

The moral of the story? We already won. Let's start living like champions.

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