God has always cared for his creation and has never left man to his own devices. God in the beginning spoke directly to man in the time of the Patriarchs. His communication to man was so man could know what God wanted him to do and how to worship him.
Adam, Noah, Abraham, Jacob, Joseph, Job, were all part of the time God spoke directly to man. In the time God spoke to Adam, not much is recorded, but what is recorded is so important. It explains God’s creation and how man came to be and what was expected of man. It was during this time that man sinned and God unveiled His plan to save mankind (Gensis 3:15).
Later, when sin had become so rampant that God was ready to destroy man, Noah came on the scene, for he found grace in the eyes of God. Noah was told by God to build an ark, so that the righteous and all the animals could escape the flood. This account shows how God is specific in what he wants man to do. Noah followed God’s instructions and he and his family were saved from the flood.
In Genesis chapter 12, God spoke to Abraham, promising him that through him all nations of the earth would be blessed. This was the promise of Christ coming into the world. "Now the Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will show thee: And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed" (Genesis 12:1-3).
This continued God’s letting man know how man would be saved.
After the period of time when God spoke to the fathers, he gave man the written word. This happened on Mt. Sinai when Moses was given the law. The law of Moses was designed to help direct the people until the time when Christ came. It was given because of the sins of the people (Galatians 3:19). Later in that chapter Paul by inspiration would state that the law was a schoolmaster to bring mankind to Christ.
The law was added to the promise God made to Abraham, but it did not change the promise. Christ would still come to save mankind. While the law was from God, it was not designed to take the place of the Saviour. Only the blood of Christ could forgive sin (Hebrews 10:4).
The final time period in which all live today is called the Christian age. It is during this time that all men are to listen to the words of Christ. "God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds" (Hebrews 1:1-2).
On the Mount of Transfiguration (Matthew 17) man is shown that Jesus the Son of God is the one to whom man is to listen. Jesus also told about the importance of man following his words. "He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day" (John 12:48).
God has always let man know what to do to please him. The sad thing is the time and again man has determined not to listen to God, or to try and change what God has said. This has and will always lead man away from God. Man needs to understand that God wants all to be saved but his commands must be followed.