In Ether 3:15 the pre-earthly Jesus Christ told the brother of Jared: “And never have I showed myself unto man whom I have created, for never has man believed in me as thou hast.” This statement introduces something of a problem inasmuch as we read in Moses 7:4 that the Lord talked with Enoch “even as a man talketh one with another, face to face”—and Enoch lived on the earth before the time of the brother of Jared! Also, in the Doctrine and Covenants 107:54 it states that the “Lord appeared” unto Adam and his descendants.
Some people explain this problem by stating that the Lord referred to in Moses and the Doctrine and Covenants is God the Father (Elohim) rather than Jesus Christ. However, another possible interpretation is that Jesus Christ is the Lord mentioned on each of these occasions, but that he is essentially saying in Ether 3:15 that he has never had to show himself unto man before. This interpretation gains additional weight when considered in connection with the following verses: Ether 3:9, 19-20, 26. In these verses the Lord makes it very clear that the brother of Jared came before him with greater faith than any other man (Ether 3:9), that the brother of Jared “could not be kept from within the veil” (Ether 3:20), and that the Lord “could not withhold anything from him, for he knew that the Lord could show him all things” (Ether 3:26).
Concerning the possible contradiction between Ether 3:15 and Moses 7:4, Joseph Fielding Smith has written:
There is no contradiction. When Adam was in the Garden of Eden and before the Fall, he was in the presence of God the Father. He walked with God, for he was free from sin and in possession of an eternal body that could have endured forever. When he and Eve partook of the forbidden fruit, they were cast out of the presence of the Father and became subject to death, or mortal. From that time forth Jesus Christ became the Advocate and Mediator between the Father and mankind. This fall brought the first, or spiritual death, as well as mortality on Adam. Now there are several references in the Old Testament which declare that the Lord appeared to Enoch and talked with him. Enoch wrote that the Lord commanded him to get on the mount Simeon, and there said Enoch:“I saw the Lord; and he stood before my face, and he talked with me, even as a man talketh one with another, face to face.” [Moses 7:4.]
In the Bible all that is written is the following:
"And Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah three hundred years, and begat sons and daughters:
"And all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty and five years:
“And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him.” [Genesis 5:22-24.]
It is true that the Savior appeared to the prophets before the flood, but it is evident that he did not reveal himself in the fulness as he did to the Brother of Jared. Talking “face to face,” as stated in this revelation, does not mean that the Lord did not appear in a cloud; or, that his body was partially hidden from the view of the prophet. All of this could occur and yet the Lord still be partially, if not completely, hidden from the prophet’s view. The great difference rests in this, which the conversation of the Lord with the Brother of Jared clearly indicates: The Savior was conversing with the Brother of Jared in person… .
So the Savior showed to the Brother of Jared his entire body just as it would appear when he dwelt among men in the flesh.
It is a reasonable conclusion for us to reach, and fully in accordance with the facts, that the Lord had never before revealed himself so completely and in such a manner. We may truly believe that very few of the ancient prophets at any time actually beheld the full person of the Lord. (Answers to Gospel Questions, 2:123-25.)