paul, the workhorse of God

Romans 1:1 "Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God."

this is paul's description of himself and his job. this is what he wanted his "legacy" (i guess i can call it that though it isn't the best term) to be.

i want to draw your attention to one small word though, the word "for." it's in the last phrase of this sentence. this little word gave me a bit of trouble when i first read it, i first thought that it should read "by the gospel" but it doesn't, it says "for the gospel." why is that? i think and believe that paul used to word "for" here because paul knew and understand that he was being used and he knew what he was being used by. he knew that his purpose in life was the gospel. he was called out to spread the gospel and to be a servant to the gospel, the good news of God, which is, in reality, a servant of Christ. for the good new of God is that Christ came to earth to die for our sins, while we were yet sinners, and to then rise from the dead and defeat death for us and to pay and fulfill our punishment so that we may spend eternity with God. this is the gospel, this was what paul as set apart for, this was his mission. he spent his days promoting this gospel and he gave his life while spreading the gospel.