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Adam and Eve Clothed in Glory The first image that the pilgrim encounters depicts Adam and Eve clothed in God’s glory, just a moment before the Fall. The serpent, a fallen angel, encircles Eve’s head, tempting her to a false understanding of God. “You will be like God,” the serpent hisses (Gen 3:5). Yet God, in sheer generosity, had already created man and woman in his image and likeness (Gen 1:26). Eve’s hand is stretched out to grasp possessively a gift that can only be received.
Cain Kills His Brother Abel Eve’s possessive, grasping gesture is repeated by her son, Cain. Sin is the destruction of every relationship with God, others, oneself and creation. Man has lost his garments of glory. The fruit he has grasped becomes death: Cain picks up a stone to kill his brother. Abel, the just and powerless man who falls under the hand of the strong, is already an image of Christ.
14 ♦ C O L U M B I A ♦
M AY 2016