That's a loaded question because the label "Jesus" is a loaded label. The answer depends on your meaning of the term Jesus when you ask the question.
John 1:
For precision, let's label this entity Word-Jesus. Now, by definition, Word-Jesus is eternal because Word-Jesus was God.
Paul put it this way, Colossians 1:
Jesus put it this way, John 17:
Does Jesus have an eternal existence?
If by "Jesus", you mean the physical body of Jesus from Mary's womb, then no.
If by "Jesus", you mean Word-Jesus, then yes.
Yes, that's precisely how I see it. As a man Jesus certainly did not have an eternal existence. But Jesus was more than a man--he was also the Word made flesh, or Deity.
Since many do not see this clearly, I'll say this. One has to understand what is meant by "the Word." It is God's ability to verbalize Himself and the things He creates. And so, in becoming a Man, He revealed Himself as a man through the agency of His Word.
Some people try to divide up Jesus' dual personality as God and as Man by distinguishing between his spirit and his body. But that doesn't work. Both Jesus' human spirit and his human body were expressions of God's Word, or self-revelation.
Granted, the body and the spirit can be separated at death. However, even the transient, mortal nature of Jesus' body expressed Deity in human flesh. He was all God, spirit, soul, and body. His transient, mortal being was an expression of who he was before he became a man, namely God.
So we identify Jesus with God's Word, to distinguish between His existence as Deity before he became a man and his finite created expression as a man. Jesus was the Word of God made flesh, God in his pre-existence, and now God manifest as a human.
The Word is what brought God into existence on a finite plane as Man, whereas God also exists on an eternal plane before creating anything through His Word. 1st God, and then what the eternal God brings into existence through His Word, including His self-expression in Jesus.
We cannot properly or adequately express the beauty of an infinite God placing Himself within our own finite environment to live with us. He is with us as infinite Deity, touches us within our finite sphere through the Spirit, and is manifest among us as Jesus. Beautiful!
