For it is by Grace we have been saved.

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The Valley of Dry Bones

The hand of the Lord was upon me, and he brought me out in the Spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of the valley; it was full of bones. And he led me around among them, and behold, there were very many on the surface of the valley, and behold, they were very dry. And he said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” And I answered, “O Lord God, you know.” Then he said to me, “Prophesy over these bones, and say to them, O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord God to these bones: Behold, I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. And I will lay sinews upon you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live, and you shall know that I am the Lord.”

So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I prophesied, there was a sound, and behold, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone. And I looked, and behold, there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them. But there was no breath in them. Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, Thus says the Lord God: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.” So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army.

Then he said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Behold, they say, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are indeed cut off.’ Therefore prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will open your graves and raise you from your graves, O my people. And I will bring you into the land of Israel.And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves, and raise you from your graves, O my people. And I will put my Spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I am the Lord; I have spoken, and I will do it, declares the Lord.” (Ezekiel 37:1-14, ESV)

This morning the children and I sat to do our morning devotions from the Treasury of Daily Prayer. As we came to the Old Testament reading my breath caught in my throat. During the 10 days I was carrying Anastasia's dead body in mine I read this passage out loud over and over. It became the passage I literally clung to for breath. It has become my favorite passage in all of the Scriptures...well, after the nativity, the Institution of the Lord's Supper, and our Lord's Passion, Crucifixion, Resurrection, and Reappearing. :) I adore it. As I read it I saw it in a new way. During those 10 days it was a plea for God's raising of my child in my womb to new life on this earth. Today it was a solid declaration of God's victory over death. DEATH IS DEAD! Oh Death, you have no sting! No victory!

After the Ezekiel reading was a reading from Romans, a very long reading which always makes me smile to see my children have to sit still for so long as they are so cute trying to be good and they are getting so good at sitting still! Here is the part that stood out to me:

But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man's trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many. And the free gift is not like the result of that one man's sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification. For if, because of one man's trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.

Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. For as by the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man's obedience the many will be made righteous. Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 5:15-21, ESV)

Finally the children and I read our Catechism for the day, the 10 commandments and their meanings followed by the Close of the Commandments:

What does God say about all these Commandments? He says, "I the Lord your God am a jealous God, punishing the children to the 3rd and 4th generations of those who hate me, but showing love to a THOUSAND generations of those who love me and keep my commandments. (emphasis mine)

From these three readings we can gather that:

A. Life comes before death. Before death there was life.

B. Sin came into the world through one man and through that sin we are all infected and all share in each other's sin. 

C. Where sin came through one man, life was restored through the God-man Jesus. 

D. Love overlaps and consumes punishment for those that are called through Christ Jesus in His Word to faith. 

E. My babies and your babies, you mothers who grieve losses with me, the children housed in the wombs of the Baptized and redeemed in Christ Jesus are indeed saved. For God desires that all should be saved, He is eager to do it, and where God's love and Word is, there His love covers a multitude of sins. 

Some people have expressed concern in my confession that my body is killing my babies. But you must realize what I confess is true. BUT, you share in this sin with me. For it IS SIN that infects us all and causes death. My body houses that sin that infects and hands over my child's body to death. I don't know for sure if indeed it is actually my body that is rejecting and killing my child. Maybe it is. Maybe it's not and my babies have some sort of genetic disease or any number of things that are causing them to die. But regardless, we must not cheapen grace by trying to comfort with false words. My sin indeed kills my babies, but it is the sin that was handed down by that one man that we all share. So your sin and mine and everyone else's that we all share indeed kills these children of the womb. BUT. :) oh, that happy BUT!!! 

"but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." (Romans 5:21 ESV)

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