Here are two attempts to summarise the Christian gospel. Do either of them seem familiar? What are the most striking differences? Are there any points of disagreement? Is the second one (or the first one) unnecessarily long? Does the first one (or the second one) miss out anything essential for a gospel summary?
Summary 1
- God is perfect.
- We are not perfect (sin), and we cannot achieve perfection by our own efforts.
- We will spend eternity either with God ("heaven") or apart from God ("hell"), depending on whether or not our problem (imperfection) has been dealt with.
- The good news is that God sent his Son, Jesus, to make a way for us to be made perfect. He did this by dying to take away the sins of those who trust in him and by rising from the dead.
- If we stop trusting in our own efforts and trust in Jesus (if we "repent"), we will be forgiven and spend eternity with God.
Summary 2
- God created the world so that we would know his love and live in harmony with each other and with the world around us.
- We do not love God and we do not want to live in harmony with each other and with the world around us (sin), and we can't fix that problem ourselves.
- At some point, God will sort out all the problems in the world, and we will spend eternity either here on the earth ("earth"), or we will be thrown out ("hell"), depending on whether or not our problem (unloving heart) has been dealt with.
- The good news is that God sent his Son, Jesus, to make a group of people who will know God's love and live in harmony with each other and with the world around them. He did this by dying to take away the sins of those who trust in him and by rising from the dead.
- If we receive God's gift of a new heart (if we "repent"), we will be forgiven, and we can begin a life of love here on the earth that will last for all eternity.