The Word of God covers a period of history reaching from the Creation to the coming of the Son of man in the clouds of heaven. Yea, more, it carries the mind forward to the future life, and opens before it the glories of Paradise restored. Through all these centuries the truth of God has remained the same. That which was truth in the beginning is truth now. Although new and important truths appropriate for succeeding generations have been opened to the understanding, the present revealings do not contradict those of the past. Every new truth understood only makes more significant the old.
Commencing with the Fall, down through the patriarchal and Jewish ages even to the present time, there has been a gradual unfolding of the purposes of God in the plan of redemption. Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Moses understood the gospel through Christ; they looked for the salvation of the race through man's substitute and surety. These holy men of old held communion with the Saviour who was to come to our world in human flesh, and some of them talked with Christ and heavenly angels face to face, as a man talks with his friend.
As time has rolled on from Creation and the cross of Calvary, as prophecy has been and is still fulfilling, light and knowledge have greatly increased. . . . In the life and death of Christ, a light flashes back upon the past, giving significance to the whole Jewish economy, and making of the old and the new dispensations a complete whole. Nothing that God has ordained in the plan of redemption can be dispensed with. It is the working out of the divine will in the salvation of man.
All the truths of revelation are of value to us, and in contemplating things of eternal interest, we shall gain true perceptions of the character of God. . . . The entire character will be elevated and transformed. The soul will be brought into harmony with Heaven. That I May Know Him 197
But Jesus told him, “No! The Scriptures say,‘People do not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God. Matthew 4:4 (New Living Translation)