What is the royal palace that God prepared for Adam and Eve?

St. Gregory of Nyssa says that God created the world in all its ingenuity as a magnificent palace prepared for Adam and Eve as a king and queen; and that God afforded to humans every possibility of joy and authority over the creation that He created for their sake.

In his article “A Comparison between a King and a Monk” ( Comparatio Regis et Monachi )⁴⁷⁸ St. John Chrysostom describes the Christian idea that whether a believer is a

475 St. Jacob of Sarug, Memre 30.

476 St. Jacob of Sarug, Memre 30.

477 Origen, Homilies on Luke 8.2 (FOTC 94:34).

478 St. John Chrysostom, A Comparison between a King and a Monk; against the Opponents of the Monastic Life: Two Treatises , Studies in the Bible and Early Christianity, V. 13, trans., David G Hunter (Lewiston, N.Y., USA: E. Mellen Press, 1988); (PG 47:387–392).

monk, priest, or layperson, he aspires to the grace of God that works in him to make him a king possessed of an authority greater and more powerful than many worldly kings.

A king rules over nations and armies. However, a monk (or a genuine believer) governs anger, envy, greed, contemptible desires, and the whole throng of lusts. Whoever rules over people while he himself is ruled by wrath, greed, and contemptible lusts can seldom be a good ruler. The monk (or believer) wages war upon the demons and defeats them with divine aid, and is crowned by Christ. On the other hand, a king fights only barbarians, aiming to acquire land or treasures, or to satisfy his thirst for power.

And when the moment of death draws near, it is frightening for the king. But the monk (or believer) does not find this moment remotely disturbing. Should one of them suffer a violent death, the monk dies as a martyr and goes to heaven, while the king surrenders to his adversary's sword. After death, the righteous monk enters into the glory and splendor of the Lord, whereas the king’s honor and blessing, even if he were righteous, would be of a lesser degree than that of the monk.