In Christ Alone

In Christ alone my hope is found

He is my light, my strength, my song

This cornerstone, this solid ground

Firm through the fiercest drought and storm

What heights of love, what depths of peace

When fears are still, when strivings cease

My comforter, my all in all

Here in the love of Christ I stand!

This song is one that has so many memories connected to it for me. I listened to it for comfort when my Nanna died, when a friend/mentor died, we sung it at our wedding, and it was played at a dear friend's funeral last year. I've always loved how it tells the gospel message:

In Christ alone, who took on flesh

Fullness of God in helpless babe

This gift of love and righteousness

Scorned by the ones He came to save

Til on the cross as Jesus died

The wrath of God was satisfied

For every sin on Him was laid

Here in the death of Christ I live!

The third verse is my favourite. I love how there is a somber tone in the first lines, but absolute joy after that:

There in the ground His body lay

Light of the world by darkness slain

Then bursting forth in glorious day

Up from the grave He rose again

And as He stands in victory

Sin's curse has lost its grip on me

For I am His, and He is mine

Bought with the precious blood of Christ!

After my 39wk midwife appointment, we drove to the hospital to have an ultrasound to see if there was a heartbeat. At that point, we both knew we were unlikely to see/hear our precious baby's heartbeat, and I was trying not to get my hopes up. It had never been tricky to find her heartbeat, so I knew something was wrong. Deep down, I knew our baby had died, but I also knew that our God works miracles. If we thought it was too late and there was no heartbeat, He could have easily changed that for us. While thinking all of those thoughts, this song came on.

No guilt in life, no fear in death

This is the power of Christ in me

From life's first cry to final breath

Jesus commands my destiny

No power of Hell, no scheme of man

Can ever pluck me from His hands

Til He returns or calls me home

Here in the power of Christ I'll stand!

What do I do with that verse? I have no fear for my own death, but I was certainly afraid of our baby dying. On the other hand, I knew without a doubt that nothing, not even our girl's death, could take me from God's hand (there is no pit so deep that God's love is not deeper still...)

What if life doesn't have a first cry, or a final breath? Ariella did neither of those. I now find it hard to sing that line, as they assume there is always a first cry and a final breath. There's not. And this song now reminds me of that. And while verse three proclaims that Jesus' body was in the ground but He rose, it reminds me that our girl's body is also in the ground, and I don't get to see her resurrected until I get to Heaven. And that feels like a long time to wait.

So even though it makes me cry when I hear it (like the past two weeks at church!), I will still try to sing:

Til He returns or calls me home

Here in the power of Christ I'll stand!