You asked the question...
The question regarding Satan's sin could be stated as what was the situation before he fell? Was there and earth? before sin?
I say no.
...which prompted my own...
Then where was he cast out of Heaven...to?
...to which you respond...
to This place which was without form and void and light. He is here
So I am guessing that you feel God created the heavens and the earth as a prison for Satan and his demons. Do I have that correct?
Secondly, embracing the Gap Restoration Theory is for some reasonable, but, I do not see it so. First, as in the Scripture you yourself presented, the demons that are eternally incarcerated are in
tartaroō, not on earth.
Secondly, embracing the Gap Restoration Theory based on two verses, and ignoring the numerous statements in the very first chapter of Scripture doesn't make a lot of sense.
Third, Satan was not bound when he was cast out of Heaven, and is to this day walking about, to and fro upon the earth, as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour.
Fourth, the Gap Restoration Theory was, in my opinion, a response to the Theory of Evolution by those who did not have enough faith in GOd and His Word to take God at His Word, and know that those who present the earth as being, then millions of years old, and now they have changed it to billions of years old, because their theories are in error and continually cause them to change the "facts" so they can make their doctrine plausible.
So finally, when Scripture states "In the beginning," it is actually speaking of the beginning, not a reformation of an already existing creation.
You have the reason of the creation
Gen 1:2
And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness
was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
Jer 4:23
I beheld the earth, and, lo,
it was without form, and void; and the heavens, and they
had no light.
Not really, no. We have in the first quote the fact that the earth was without form, which would soon be corrected in the following days of creation, and it was empty, which was also corrected in the following days of creation.
In the second quote, we have the destruction of, not the earth from a former creation, but the Land of God's People:
Jeremiah 4:23-27
King James Version (KJV)
23 I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was without form, and void; and the heavens, and they had no light.
24 I beheld the mountains, and, lo, they trembled, and all the hills moved lightly.
25 I beheld, and, lo, there was no man, and all the birds of the heavens were fled.
26 I beheld, and, lo, the fruitful place was a wilderness, and all the cities thereof were broken down at the presence of the Lord, and by his fierce anger.
27 For thus hath the Lord said, The whole land shall be desolate; yet will I not make a full end.
A couple things to consider:
1. the mountains and hills were already in existence;
2. the mountains and hills do not disappear, which is necessary to meet the requirement of the formless and empty earth in Creation, but they tremble, and moved lightly;
3. Man is already in existence in this context, which means we nullify that man was created on the sixth day, which means...we nullify the Word of God;
4. the context shows the fruitful place and cities as broken down and a wilderness, again, not corresponding to the condition of the heavens and the earth when God Created them;
5. God states He will make the whole land desolate, but not in entirety, which is what would have had to happen if we were to try to see this as preceding the Six Days of Creation in Genesis One.
The context deals with those of Jeremiah's Day, not to what took place prior to the Creation account in Genesis.
Jde 1:6
And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.
If the earth were the "prison" in view here, then they would still be on the earth, lol. The terminology used by both Jude and Peter makes it certain that these demons have never been set free from the prison in which they were incarcerated.
Secondly, this is likely referring to demons after Satan's fall, because they did not "leave" the habitation of Heaven, they were thrown out.
It seems to me that Satan fell, and took some other Angels with him. They were cast out of Heaven, but not incarcerated, because we still see demons at work in Christ's Day. So being incarcerated would likely have taken place after the Fall, though it is equally possible those Peter and Jude refer to fell prior to Creation. It doesn't really have any bearing on Satan and his demons, though, because we know they are yet free, roaming the earth.
Some view Revelation 12:4 as referring to demons who are spoken of as "stars." They see Satan causing the fall of one third of Angels. The context deals with Satan's persecution of Christ, his desire to kill the Messiah when He is born.
God bless.
