The heavens are telling of the glory of God/Their expanse is declaring the work of His hands. (Psalm 19:1)

For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made . . . (Romans 1:19-20).

Introduction

It is May in Texas, and we have had some beautiful days prior to what will be the onslaught of those well-known Texas summers that hammer us from June through August, even into September. Over the past couple of weeks, I spent some time sitting outside on a bench, conversing with a friend, both of us commenting on how beautiful the days were, and enjoying the slight spring breeze that comforted us beneath an equally comforting sun. It brought to my mind the reality of natural revelation, God’s presence in the world that He created. Although I have experienced many beautiful places, I want to highlight three of them as special experiences of God’s natural revelation, closing with a summary of why this reality is important to those us who are in Christ.

Highway 84

Numerous times I have on a whim decided to drive up to Santa Fe, NM from where I live here in Texas. Santa Fe is a town I truly enjoy, and I likewise enjoy the scenic drive that takes me there. Invariably I make my way through Lubbock at which point I turn due west to head into New Mexico, driving west on Highway 84. At Fort Sumner, NM, Highway 84 juts due north, eventually taking me into Santa Fe after some navigating jaunts on I-40 and I-25. Coming out of Fort Sumner, heading due north, Highway 84 is a lone two-lane highway across the prairie land and foothills before entering the Sangre de Cristo Mountain range outside and around Santa Fe. Driving on that highway simulates being in a technicolor movie. There are no descriptive words that can do justice to the richness and depths of the colors one experiences there. There is hardly anything man-made out there other than the highway. One of the things I like to do on my jaunt across 84 is pull over to the side at some place and get out of the car for a few minutes. Stepping out into that venue is like entering into another world. There’s an old adage, you can hear and feel the quietness. The silence is heavy. Apart from the screech of an eagle or the howling of a wolf, there is a total and complete lack of sound surrounded by stillness. I think of it as the way creation is supposed to be experienced. The peacefulness is disturbed occasionally by a passing motorist, which signals the noisiness we human beings bring to creation. Nature calls to mind Psalm 46:10, Be quite and know that I am God. The presence of God presides over that panorama.

Narrow-Gauge Wonders

Driving from Texas to Durango, CO is another journey filled with vistas. Upon approaching the Rockies, one experiences the full grandeur of natural revelation. Another amazing experience that one can undertake while in Durango, involves the narrow-gauge train ride from Durango up to an old mining town, Silverton. The ride up follows the Animus River as the narrow-gauge rises from Durango at 6500 feet to Silverton at 9300 ft. I sat next to a window taking in the beautiful scenic rise up the mountain. With dozens of people on the train obviously it was quite chatty as we made our journey to the small mining town. There was a couple sitting behind me that were bickering due to some disagreement. Along the way, the tracks cross some mountain passes. To call them breath-taking is a gross understatement. At one point, I looked out the window where I sat and experienced a sheer drop of about 1200 feet or more. As we crossed that pass, everyone became silent and remained quieter the rest of the way up to Silverton. The couple behind me not only ceased bickering, but became somewhat lovey-dovey toward one another. Each of us on that train knew we had just experienced something greater and more powerful than us. What came over us was what I considered a referential awe that brought on a form of humility. We were confronted with something greater and of more grandeur than us. It was as if God was speaking, and no one could help but hear even though no voice was heard nor were there words (Psalm 19). But yes, a voice and words were heard nonetheless. The power of God was felt by all, even among those who would claim there is no God.

Emerald Blue

Some years ago I visited Glacier National Park, which in-and-of-itself is a God-like vista. I flew into Missoula, MT, rented a car, and drove up to Kalispell and then on to a bed-and-breakfast where I stayed for a few days. The drive to Kalispell entails a short jaunt on I-90, and then one takes Hwy 93 due north to Kalispell and beyond. At one point on Hwy 93, I rounded a corner, and there it lay, sprawled out beneath the sun, Flathead Lake. It is little known, but Flathead is the largest freshwater lake west of the Mississippi River except for Iliamna Lake in Alaska. It is just a little larger than Lake Tahoe in Nevada. Salt Lake in Utah is larger, but it is, as its name indicates, a salt lake. The only way I can describe it is as a picturesque canvas of powerful blue-emerald color. It looked as if God had painted an enormous blue, turquoise canvas on the face of the earth. As a natural glacial lake of approximately 197 square miles, it contained the bluest water I have ever witnessed. Again, the presence of God overwhelmed me through such an powerful scene. His voice was there through the silence of this blue wonder of natural revelation.

The Meaning of Natural Revelation

So what should these wonders say to us mere creatures? There is Natural Revelation, the voice of God in nature. Then there is Special Revelation, the voice of God through His Word, the Scripture. The latter speaks to the former as seen in the epigrams that open this article. Natural Revelation showcases God’s enormous power. For those of us He called to be in Christ, we can take comfort in the power that God providentially works in directing our lives because He is creator. The very God who spoke the universe into being by the power of His Word is the God who says to us that we can enter His rest – Be quiet and know that I am God. That calls on us to trust a power, the extent of which we cannot fathom. As the epistle to the Ephesians tells us, the power that God works toward our sanctification is the very power by which He raised Christ from the dead. Such power we gain an inkling of through the vistas of His creation – an inkling that signifies there is so much more beyond our grasp, but nevertheless, so much more on which we can rely.

Moreover, there is a reality outside of us, a reality that speaks to God’s existence. In contrast to this postmodern age, we do not construct that reality. Its existence calls us to common sense realism and a worldview that has as its foundation the truth of God’s existence. As we live, breathe, and have our being in that created dominion, we, live, breathe, and exist in God (Acts 10:39). In His light we see light (Psalm 36:9), which is Jesus Christ.

John V. Jones, Jr., Ph.D/May 14th, 2026

CHRISTIAN THOUGHT