“Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad.”
- John 8:56
“Abraham—your ‘father’—with elated faith looked down the corridors of history and saw my day coming. He saw it and cheered.”
- John 8:56 MSG
In this scripture, Jesus is referring to how Moses, by faith, was able to see Him coming to redeem mankind and free them from spiritual death by sin.
The Lord had already appeared to Abraham once before, in Genesis 18:1 – 3, “And the Lord appeared unto him in the plains of Mamre: and he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day;
And he lift up his eyes and looked, and, lo, three men stood by him: and when he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed himself toward the ground,
And said, My Lord, if now I have found favour in thy sight, pass not away, I pray thee, from thy servant: “
And in Genesis chapter 12, God made a promise to Abraham to bless him and all his descendants. So, Abraham knew that Jesus would physically be born after him. And because Abraham had so much faith in God, he knew Jesus would come to the earth and do exactly what he was supposed to do. He knew if God could not fail, then Jesus would also not fail. He understood that Jesus would be a living testimony and proof of the works of God. Abraham never doubted God’s promises; one of which was the occurrence of God providing a ram in the bush to be sacrificed instead of Abraham’s son Isaac, in Genesis chapter 22.
So, because Abraham had full belief in God, he was excited at the promise of Jesus coming to save mankind from a life of hurt, evil, and hopelessness. That also means our full faith in God is what will cause us to be at peace about the future. We do not have to worry about sickness, disease, poverty, stress, anxiety, or any other troubling situations that we face in life. Instead, we should have full belief that God’s word will cause us to overcome any obstacle in our way. Nothing can stop us from receiving God’s plan for our lives.
Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. Hebrews 10:23
So, we have a spiritual right to get excited and rejoice about our future, just like Abraham did.