Where was Jesus before the incarnation?
This is the fallacy of Begging the Question. Jesus was a man, and John quite clearly states that "the word became flesh". Human beings do not become human beings. The word was not a human being named Jesus until the word "became" flesh. Jesus didn't even have a name for the first nine months and eight days of his fleshly existence.
Phillipians 1 He emptied Himself. While he was in heaven he decided to empty Himself and take on the form of a man.
Again, you still haven't supplied us with any evidence to support this contradictory claim that a human being took on human form.
Not, "He emptied Himself" Note also it was His own decision. Once again we see preexistence
Philippians 2:7
Preexistence is not equivalent to existing as a human being. The texts are clear in pointing out that he wasn't human before he "became" flesh. It makes no sense to claim that a human being named Jesus became a human being named Jesus. It's a contradiction. Scripture never makes these contradictory claims.
Instead, we read of the word of God coming from God, and becoming incarnate as a human being. This doesn't negate the fact that he's the word of God, but it does point out that he couldn't have been a human being named Jesus until he actually became a human being named Jesus.
When we add to this the fact that Jesus' teaching begins with the injunction to "deny yourself", we can safely assume that he took his own advice. Therefore it is NOT Jesus who is "the way, the truth and the life", but Christ. It is Christ who denies himself. It is Christ who denies his earthly persona, and discards it as nothing more than trash.
It is not Jesus, the human being who is the way, the truth and the life, but the fullness of the godhead indwelling in that flesh body. The body does not give life, but life is given to the body, and that life is Christ.
God's salvation comes through selfless sacrificial love, and God's salvation is literally what the name, Yeshua means. How is it accomplished? By selfless sacrificial loving obedience to God's will.