To Every Creature Upon the Face of the Earth

As I read D&C 1 today, the Lord’s preface to the Doctrine and Covenants, I was struck with the repeated theme of the universality of the God’s latter-day message and work.  We read in only the second verse, “For verily the voice of the Lord is unto all men, and there is none to escape; and there is no eye that shall not see, neither ear that shall not hear, neither heart that shall not be penetrated” (v2).  The Lord’s message found in the Doctrine and Covenants and which is repeated by His servants is not only for members of the Church or even the House of Israel—it is for all men and women, the “voice of warning… unto all people” (v4).  The messengers of the Lord will speak “unto the inhabitants of the earth” and His voice is “unto the ends of the earth, that all that will hear may hear” (v8, 11).  In general it seems that in the Church we often think of the Book of Mormon as the text to give to those first learning about the gospel and the Doctrine and Covenants as the book to be given after they have been baptized, but the Lord makes it clear that His voice we find in the Doctrine and Covenants is meant to be heard by all, whether members of His Church or not.  

             Section 1 emphasizes the ubiquitous nature of the destruction coming to the earth in the last days, the universality of judgment, and the Lord’s willingness to reveal truth to all the earth.  We read that “the anger of the Lord is kindled, and his sword is bathed in heaven, and it shall fall upon the inhabitants of the earth” (v13).  He warned of “the calamity which should come upon the inhabitants of the earth” and that “the rebellious shall be pierced with much sorrow” because of their iniquities (v17).  The judgments coming upon the earth will come to all the wicked, and the Lord emphasized that all should be prepared: “For I am no respecter of persons, and will that all men shall know that the day speedily cometh; the hour is not yet, but is nigh at hand, when peace shall be taken from the earth, and the devil shall have power over his own dominion” (v35).  And with those tribulations coming upon all the earth in response to the world’s wickedness, none can escape the fact that they will be judged by God: “The Lord shall come to recompense unto every man according to his work, and measure to every man according to the measure which he has measured to his fellow man” (v10).  But the Lord is willing to save all His children and to give to all who will hear His light and truth.  This is why He commanded His servants to “proclaim these things unto the world” (v18).  He has ordained “that the fulness of [His] gospel might be proclaimed by the weak and the simple unto the ends of the world” (v23).  The message of the restoration is to go forth to the whole world.  The Lord wants “that every man might speak in the name of God the Lord, even the Savior of the world” (v20).  God is willing to reveal His words and His truth to all who will hear: “And again, verily I say unto you, O inhabitants of the earth: I the Lord am willing to make these things known unto all flesh” (v34).  The Lord’s message in the Doctrine and Covenants specifically and in the Restoration generally is, as the original twelve apostles suggested in the book’s introduction, “to all the world of mankind, to every creature upon the face of the earth.”