Luther's catechism defines the word "faith" as trust. Trust in the Lord-total, absolute. How is your trust doing lately? Has it been shaken by health concerns? Marital problems? Loss of your job? Then when you look at the seventh word Jesus spoke from his cross, you must be in awe! After all that he had been through, after he had endured the agony of hell on the cross, at the very end when Jesus was about to breathe his last, he spoke a word of trust - Perfect trust in his heavenly Father - Trust that is now ours by faith.

I. Perfect trust in his heavenly Father

Have you ever watched a father playing with his young child by throwing the child up in the air and catching him? I have seen it. The father catches his child every time. All the while the child was laughing, and so was his dad. I bet the laughing would have stopped in a hurry, if Dad had dropped his little one just once. I'm pretty sure that would have ended the game. And the trust.

Jesus had just been dropped by his heavenly Father. From noon until 3:00 P.M., "darkness came over all the land" (Mt 27:45). That was the darkness of the Father's judgment on his Son. God had been forsaken by God. The Father had abandoned his Son to hell. How hard was that for Jesus to handle? Just moments earlier, our Savior had cried, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" On the cross, Jesus experienced the absolute anguish and loneliness that is hell. He was, for the first time in all eternity, separated from the perfect love that is God. How do you think that felt? It was hell for Jesus-in every way.

Of course, it had to be this way. Why? Because on the cross, Jesus shouldered the sin that our human race had committed! Produced by you and me! Day in. Day out. "Evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander" (Mt 15:19). It was all there on Jesus that day.

So was our lack of trust. Our lack of trust. Our misplaced trust. Our money may have "In God we trust," but you and I trust a whole lot better when we've got a wallet full of bills that say that. We trust better still when we've got a nice savings account that says that. We sleep better at night when we've put away a nice retirement nest egg that says that. But let the nest egg be lost in a pension scandal, let the savings account be nibbled away by spiked energy costs, and let the wallet be filled with cobwebs instead of money-then trust in God comes a whole lot harder. It's replaced instead by worry, high blood pressure, and ulcers.

Our lack of trust helped raise humanity's sin beyond flood stage. However, according to God's gracious plan, it all flowed directly to Golgotha. To Christ's cross. There Jesus "offered for all time one sacrifice for sins" (Heb 10:12). Sin forced the Father to turn away from his Son. Your sins and mine caused Jesus to suffer the pain of hell itself on the cross.

But that work was over now. It was finished. Just one last enemy needed to be destroyed-death (1 Co 15:26). So the Savior who had authority to lay down his life did. However, before he bowed his head and breathed his last, he prayed one final time. "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit" Never before and never since has there been such perfect, innocent trust in God the Father! Even though Jesus had been forsaken by his Father, even though our Savior had been dropped into the agonies of hell, yet Jesus didn't question his Father's plan or purpose. Not even for a second. Instead, Jesus confidently placed his soul into the Father's hands for safekeeping, and our Savior knew he would not be disappointed! Even in death, he clung to yet another of his Father's promises: "Nor will you let your Holy One see decay" (Ps 16:10).

II. Trust that is now ours by faith

That's good news for us. Very good news. Why? Once during his ministry, Jesus had said, "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them" (Mt 5:17). Even with his dying breath, Jesus was still fulfilling that holy law. But not just for himself. Everything Jesus said and did on the cross, he did for us. In our place. As our substitute. He lived, suffered, and died without committing so much as a single sin, so that "through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous" (Ro 5:19).

Now Christ's perfect trust is ours by faith. When the Father looks at us believers, he sees Jesus, our perfect substitute. That means, dear friends, the wall of sin between us and our holy God has been broken down. We have access once again! Access to heaven above when we die and access to the heavenly Father right now-all through God's grace poured out on us through Jesus!

What a difference this faith perspective makes for our everyday walk of life! Because of what Jesus has done, we can trust that our heavenly Father will never drop us. He will never let us fall.

When the economy turns sour and times are lean? We trust as did the psalmist: "I was young and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging bread" (Ps 37:25).

When life's problems pile up like mountains? We trust as did St. Paul: "No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it" (1 Co 10:13).

When the whole world seems against us? We trust our Savior's promise: "In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world" (Jn 16:33).

We can trust all that our Father has promised, because we look to Jesus on the cross, and we trust with Paul: "He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all-how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?" (Ro 8:32). The Father has given us his Son. The Son has given us his life and through it-heaven! Do we really think our Lord would drop us before we get there?

I have many times had the privilege of sitting at the bedsides of believers who were suffering and sick, even near death. It's humbling to see a courageous Christian battling illness and doing it with the patience, courage, and confidence only God-given faith can bring. It is also so comforting to often see the childlike faith of a believer in the last days before death. Often you can almost see the peace of Jesus written all over the believer's face. It's in the eyes. In the voice. I can't explain how precious it is to hear these words from a Christian: "I am not afraid, Pastor. I know Jesus is my Savior. I know he is with me now. I am ready to go home."

"Father, into your hands I commit my spirit." When you and I come to the end of this life, we will be able to make Jesus' dying prayer our own, because Jesus Christ has taken away even the sting of death! We believe that, we know that, and we trust that because this seventh word from the cross wasn't our Savior's last word after all. He who is the Resurrection and the Life had a little more to say. A bit more to do. All to prove that you and I can trust all of our Savior's promises-promises even as unbelievable as this one: "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die" (Jn 11:25,26). Promises even as mind-boggling as this one: "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am" (Jn 14:1-3).

"Father, into your hands I commit my spirit." Jesus spoke these words with confidence, because he knew his Father's plan for him wasn't finished on Good Friday. God's plan for his Son included Easter morning, an earthquake, angels, and an empty tomb.

And God's plan includes you and me. Be like that child tossed high into the air by his father! Trust in your Savior and all he has said and done for you. He won't let you fall. You have his word on it. "My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand" (Jn 10:27,28). Amen.