Section 4
dining table with delicious food. Paul was a waiter at the universal dining table, serving people with Christ. All the people at this dining table were filled with Christ, and Christ became the trans forming element within their being. Thus, the Gentiles were transformed with the essence of the wonderful, all-inclusive Christ, who is the life-giving Spirit. Moreover, this verse reveals that Paul was a priest, for he was "ministering as a priest the gospel of God." As a priest he offered to God the believing Gentiles as a sweet sacrifice for His satisfaction. The very Gentiles whom he served with Christ he presented to God as an offering.
The Preaching of the Gospel
The offering of the nations was made possible through the wide-spread preaching of the gospel (15:18-23). In 15:19 Paul says that "from Jeru salem and round about to Illyricum, I have fully preached the gospel of Christ." During Paul's time, Illyricum was a remote region on the northeast ern corner of Europe. Paul preached the gospel from Jerusalem, a cultured city, to a remote, un cultured region. Furthermore, he desired to travel all the way to Spain (v. 24).
Our preaching of the gospel must be uplifted.