In the absence of space, things cannot exist.
Oh yes, I'm agreeing.
The symmetry view is that if everything is the same, perfect formless, there is no cause.. and your points apply here.
The view is, from a point of view of physics, a break occurred in this symmetry.. a point unlike all the others, which brought forth a difference-in charge let's say. This began the cascade of reactions, force/cause, result/change, force... cause arose due to there being a break in formless symmetry. This results in cause and effect, space and time. As you describe.
So rather than space/time expanding from big bang, it can be viewed as broken symmetry cascading out, like cracks in an ice pond.