Before Abraham Was-I AM

Verily, verily, I say unto you, If a man keep my saying, he shall never see death. 
Then said the Jews unto him, Now we know that thou hast a devil. Abraham is dead,
and the prophets; and thou sayest, If a man keep my saying, he shall never taste of death. 
Art thou greater than our father Abraham, which is dead? and the prophets are dead:
whom makest thou thyself? Jesus answered, If I honour myself, my honour is nothing:
it is my Father that honoureth me; of whom ye say, that he is your God: 
Yet ye have not known him; but I know him: and if I should say, I know him not,
I shall be a liar like unto you: but I know him, and keep his saying. 
Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad. 
Then said the Jews unto him, Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast thou seen Abraham? 
Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am. 
Then took they up stones to cast at him: but Jesus hid himself, and went out of the temple,
going through the midst of them, and so passed by. Joh 8:51-59
The Eternal Christ

The text is one of those rare passages in which Jesus Christ appears to stand upon His own dignity, in which the Lowly, the Humble, the Unresisting Son of man asserts His high origin, claiming to be God, for it amounts to no less: God from everlasting. "Before Abraham was, I am."

Abraham rejoiced to see the day of Christ. He had a glimpse of that day of the birth of Jesus Christ, born of the Virgin Mary, as He had a glimpse also of the manner in which Jesus Christ should work out our redemption. He took his son Isaac and offered him up on Mount Moriah—that Isaac so exceedingly dear, of whom it was said, that "in Isaac shall thy seed be called." He offered him up, his one hope of becoming the father of many nations. And that act of Abraham—that act of faith, was counted unto him for righteousness; and he is held up for ever as the father of the faithful. To him, as St. Paul writes, "The Scripture foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the Gospel, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed."

Jesus Christ Himself lived before Abraham was born. Whenever God is spoken of as holding communion and as being visible to man, it is in the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, God, the Son, Jesus Christ. It is He who declares to us the Father. It is He who represents God to us, and is Himself God, even Jesus Christ. This was He who talked with and was called the friend of Abraham. It was He who was the Giver of the Law to Moses, it is He by whose agency the worlds were made, God the Supreme Deity dwelleth in the light which no man can approach: but Jesus Christ who is the image of the Invisible God, hath manifested, made known, declared to us, what God is; how good, how gracious, how ready to forgive, and how rich in mercy to those who call upon Him. It follows, then, that we should honor and worship Him as God, we should draw near with all reverence, with all holiness, with bowed heads and bowed hearts, to present our supplication before Him.
See also: ​Exo 3:14  And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you. 
(R. D. B. Rawnsley, Village Sermons, 3rd series, p. 62)

Freedom From Death

​It is absolutely true that the Christian disciple does see death as the king of terrors or as a grim monster. Jesus has robbed death of its sting; He has destroyed Him that had the power of death. The moment of death is the moment of birth into a wider and happier existence. We are set free from this body of mortality and become possessed of the house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. The grave is the vestibule of Paradise. We know that the iron gate opens into the city of God. Absent from the body, we are present with the Lord. The moment of transition is so desirable that it is only comparable to the falling asleep of the tired laborer.
The Father glorified His Son by the attestation given at the Baptism and the Transfiguration, by the Resurrection from the grave, by the Exaltation to His right hand. Yet these are but stages in the glorification of our High Priest. The full outburst of His glory is yet future. We shall behold the glory with which the Father has rewarded His obedience unto death; nay, we are to share it with Him.  (F.B. Meyer)

Jesus the Eternal Son

Before Abraham was, I Am. Here the Savior claims with a double “Amen” the Incommunicable Name (Exo_3:14). It signifies unchangeable essence and everlasting duration. This is the name which the Jews for centuries had not dared to utter. Silently they had read it, used another in its stead, revered and adored it. Now the humble Nazarene openly assumes and claims it. God’s word to Moses implies the impossibility of a full definition of the name, or that finite creatures could not comprehend it if given. He does not say, “I am their Light, Life, Guide, Strength, or Tower.” He sets His hand to a blank, that faith may write her prayer. Are believers weary? I am their strength. Poor? I am their riches. In trouble? I am their comfort. Sick?
​I am their health. Dying? I am their life. I am justice and mercy, grace and goodness, glory, beauty, holiness, perfection—all-sufficient through eternity. (W. H. Van Doren, D. D.)

Christ the I Am Brings Freedom from Sin

The reason why our Lord Jesus Christ is so strong was shown by Him, and so enraged the Jews that "they took up stones". (Joh_8:59). For when Christ said that His word would keep them from eternal death this stood in the way of the Jews. They saw that Abraham and other holy men were dead; only let it be supposed that Christ was not equal to them, then it was a vain glory that led Him to magnify His word so greatly. But Christ answered, “Abraham rejoiced,”. (Joh_8:56). That is- had Abraham not held fast to My word he too would have remained in eternal death. And again, “I am before Abraham.” Both mean as much as, “I am the eternal almighty God.” Whoever is burdened with sin, therefore, and would escape from death and lay hold of life, must be helped thereto by Me. Such a claim neither Moses nor all the prophets could glory in; for they were all men. Christ is both God and man; therefore He can give life and blessedness—He and no other. This is most comforting, and a certain proof of our faith, as we confess that Christ is by nature and eternally Son of God. Why then are such testimonies so frequent in the gospel? In order that we may put our trust in Him, and not in man; and rely upon His word assuredly, for it is God’s word and cannot lie. What He says is yea, and shall not fail through eternity; just as little as it failed when God through the Word created heaven and earth out of nothing. Learn this with diligence, and thank God for such doctrine, and pray that through His Holy Spirit He will keep you in the Word, and thus make you through Christ eternally blessed. 
​​(Translated from Luther’s “Hauspostille.")

Note: This teaching by Bible scholar R.C. Sproul, on the verses above, is the best I've ever heard, and hope you will take the time to listen to it-you will be blessed, and spiritually fed.
Before Abraham Was, I AM: Knowing Christ - The “I AM” Sayings of Jesus with R.C. Sproul
https://youtu.be/TeWTb_Ng-p8?si=X_EVtaT61c3SiavK