What’s the Gospel in Seven Words?

I’m enjoying the Christian Century’s ongoing “What’s the Gospel in Seven Words?” feature.

Some of the responses are whimsical, such as Martin Marty’s “God, through Jesus Christ, welcomes you anyhow” or Mary Karr’s “We are The Church of Infinite Chances.”

Others attempt more theological precision, such as Walter Brueggemann’s “Israel’s God’s bodied love continues world-making,” or Max Stackhouse’s “God enters history; renewed covenants promise salvation.”

I’m pleased to see that, overall, these attempts to distill the gospel into seven words mostly keep in mind that the gospel is good news — that this should be a positive message. “God was born. We can be reborn,” Carol Howard Merritt writes. “Divinely persistent, God really loves us,” writes Donald W. Shriver Jr. I like those.

For what it’s worth, here’s my first attempt at the Gospel in Seven Words:

Emmanuel. Olly olly oxen free. Death loses.

Anyone else want to give it a try in comments?