The Purpose of the Church
After Jesus—in order to impart His final thoughts—had gathered His disciples to himself and instituted the New Covenant in John 17, He lifted His eyes in prayer to the Father. The words that He spoke tell us a lot about His view of God, Himself, and us today. In essence, our Lord asked the Father to glorify Him, so that He could glorify the Father. He said, “I glorified You on the earth, having accomplished the work which You have given Me to do. Now, Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.”[1] Christ’s work on earth was the redemption of humanity through his sinless life, subsequent substitutionary sacrifice, and conquering of sin and death by His resurrection from the dead. The glory of Christ—as the second person in the Trinity—was restored as He was seated at the right hand of the Father (Heb. 1:3).
Without Christ’s redeeming life and sacrifice, mankind would be without hope. The apostle Paul said in 1 Corinthians 15 that, “if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, your faith also is vain.” Thus, the glory of God was manifested in the person and work of Christ.
What’s incredible is that Christ’s resurrection not only provided for a new kind of humanity, but also established Christ’s right to rule this new humanity. Christ’s work brought a restoration of fellowship between mankind and God through the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit (Titus 3:5-7). And this new humanity received the Holy Spirit not for themselves only, but with a purpose for all of humanity. Enter the creation of the Church. Enter Christ’s headship of the Church.
Thus, Christ’s right to rule, as well as the purpose of the Church was born. What is the purpose of the Church?
- It is first to glorify God. Paul said on Romans 15:5-7, “Now may the God who gives perseverance and encouragement grant you to be of the same mind with one another according to Christ Jesus, so that with one accord you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, accept one another, just as Christ also accepted us to the glory of God.” The Church manifests the glory of God philosophically (as God’s creation and institution), practically (being God’s vehicle through which mankind is saved for eternal life), as well as theologically (as the direct representation of unity manifested in the Trinity).
- The second purpose is to preach the Word (1 Tim. 4:13, 2 Tim. 4:2) When Ezra stood to preach God’s Word—in Nehemiah 9, he modeled one critical aspect of the Church’s purpose—to articulate God’s Word to God’s people. Later, we read in Acts 2:42 that the early Church devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching. The apostle Paul would instruct a young pastor in ministry to a local church to, “Until I come, give attention to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation and teaching.”[2]
- Evangelism (John 17:22-23, Romans 15:8-11, 1 Peter 2:9-10) One key purpose of the ancient Israelites was to be a kingdom of priests to the nations (Ex. 19). All that meant was that the early people of God were to be a people that mediated and prepared the way for the nations to be reconciled back to their Creator-God. Jonah is the quintessential example of God’s love for the nations, His sending of a kingdom-of-priests representative, and that representative’s failure to pursue and fulfill his purpose to the nations. It was in this failure that God raised up the Church to fulfill this purpose to the nations (1 Pet. 2:9-10). Thus, Christ’s charge to His disciples and the disciples that would follow in Matthew 28:18-20 to make disciples in pursuit of the nations.
- Edification (1 Cor 3:9, 1 Cor. 14:26) To edify is simply to build up. God gave various and myriad gifts to individual members of the universal Church to accomplish this purpose. It is when each member understands that they are uniquely gifted (without comparison or discontentment) that the Church can edify itself. On the other hand, when the individual members fail to understand each person’s unique spiritual gifting there is the consistent display of what Paul calls the deeds of the flesh in Galatians 5. Moreover, when the individual Church member also recognizes that his or her gift is not primarily for them (i.e., their comfort, per se), but for the other members of the Church, then they are able to gather and share it with delight.
- Prayer and Fellowship (Hebrews 10:24-25, James 5:16) The fifth purpose of the Church is to gather for prayer and fellowship. Prayer is not only commanded but is also a privilege given to New Covenant Christians. The Psalmist says that prayers are like a sweet aroma lifted to God for His pleasure (Ps. 141). Secondly, fellowship in the biblical sense is living authentically with other Christians. This requires a walk of humility, gentleness, and patience, as well as diligent pursuit to maintain the Spirit of unity in the bond of peace (Eph. 4:1-3). Fellowship can certainly include potlucks, but it’s much more than a shared meal and talks of the weather. Fellowship in the biblical sense is openness and love, sharing and caring, and the meeting of physical, spiritual, emotional, and physical needs. It’s believing the best, forgiving the worst, and handling conflict to the glory of God.
- Sacraments (Baptism—Matthew 28:19, Lord’s Supper—Luke 22:14-23) The Church is to regularly remember the sacraments as a memorializing the propitiatory work of Christ on the cross, as well as what the work of the cross and the resurrection accomplished in giving eternal life. Both symbols (baptism and communion) tie the individual Christian into a family of unified confessionalists. Thus, as the Christian partakes in both sacramental acts they are declaring their connection to other Christians in a common bond, they are testifying to their being born to a new life with their Lord, and they are establishing the hope of Christ’s return and setting up of His kingdom on earth.
- To provoke Israel to jealousy. As we look back to Deuteronomy 32:21, we see that the Church is God’s means of provoking Israel to jealousy, so that they will repent, turn back to Him, and look to Christ as their true Messiah. Paul explains this in Romans 11:11 when he says, “I say then, they did not stumble so as to fall, did they? May it never be! But by their transgression salvation has come to the Gentiles, to make them jealous.”
God help the Church fulfill her purpose. Amen.
Next time, we’ll look at Chapter 10 of the GAP Book—A biblical vision for the culture.
[1] New American Standard Bible, v. John 17:4-5.
[2] New American Standard Bible, v. 1 Tim. 4:13.
— January 12, 2022