It’s one thing to know about someone. It’s a whole separate thing to know them personally. I’m not a sports fan, but some of my close friends are UVA basketball fans and that means I know all about Tony Bennett. I’d know his face in a crowd. I know his coaching philosophy and style. I even know where he goes to church. But I don’t know Tony Bennett personally. If he saw me, he wouldn’t have the slightest clue who I am. I couldn’t tell you his hopes and aspirations. I don’t know what makes him tick. That knowledge goes way beyond just knowing about him. It requires me to know him personally.

Following Jesus means more than just knowing about God. We have to know him personally. We have to know who he is in his very being if we’re going to glorify him and enjoy him forever. It’s not enough to know he exists. We have to know what he’s like. Questions 5 and 6 of the Westminster Shorter Catechism help us get that conversation started.

Q. 5. Are there more Gods than one?
A. There is but one only, the living and true God.

Q. 6. How many persons are there in the godhead?
A. There are three persons in the Godhead; the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost; and these three are one God, the same in substance, equal in power and glory.

The God of the Bible is one God in three persons – or to put it in theological terms, the God of the Bible is a Trinity. This word comes from tri- (which means three) and unity (which means one). God is three in one.

What does the Trinity tell us about God? Here’s just a few takeaways:

1. The Trinity tells us that God is totally unique – Though God exists in three persons, there is only one God. There aren’t three or more. There is but one only. That means that God isn’t one option among many available to us. He’s set apart in a league all his own. No one deserves our worship like he does because there is no one else like him.

2. The Trinity tells us that God is relational – Before anything else in the world existed, God existed in a perfect relationship of love. The three persons of the Godhead exist together in a unity that boggles the mind! God delights in a relationship with his people because being relational is just part of who God is. God is not distant or impersonal. He is near – and he likes it that way.

3. The Trinity tells us that God is mysterious – God may want us to know him, but that doesn’t mean we can know and comprehend everything about him. We can know God, but we can’t know him exhaustively. He’s just too big! Think about it. Every metaphor for the Trinity falls apart. God’s not like H₂O (water, ice, and steam). God’s not like the three parts of an egg (shell, yolk, and white). He’s unlike anything else in all of creation. Does your knowledge of God leave room for him to surprise you? Does it leave space for you to know him more and more? Whenever God becomes small enough to fit neatly into our categories, we’ve failed to know him as he truly is.

What do you mean when you say you believe in God? How much do you think about who he is? The Westminster Shorter Catechism invites us to go beyond just superficial knowledge about God and to consider who he is: one God in three persons. It’s in this kind of knowledge that we can come to really know God.