God has set His church on the earth for a purpose. But this purpose is unknown to most Christians. Satan is always attempting to hijack God’s purpose for the church, and he uses people to do this because they generally use the church to serve themselves. In fact, the church today has become more about the people than about God. However, heaven has unleashed the current apostolic reformation season as a countermeasure. This season is compelling us to return God’s church back to Him and to restore God’s purpose back to His church.

THE TEN PURPOSES OF GOD FOR HIS CHURCH

1. To reveal the government of heaven on the earth

Matthew 6:10 says “Your Kingdom come, Your will be done”. The church is the portal through which God’s government finds expression on the earth. She makes God’s government and order in the heavens visible on the earth (Genesis 28:11f). The church establishes God’s government within the saints first, and through the saints God’s Kingdom governance finds expression in every domain of society.

Society must see the church as a royal and regal company. They should admire our order, our ranks and our authority. That’s why, everything we do must be ordered and governed well. We must live ordered lives, raise well-ordered families and build orderly marriages. We must order the way we think, speak and carry ourselves. All our dealings and associations must be above reproach. Even our priorities must be well ordered. We are the royal priesthood and must begin to live accordingly. 

2. To reveal Christ as the standard and measure of all things

If Christ is the standard and measure of all things according to Colossians 1:15-16 and John 1:1-4, then all our “successes” must be measured against Him. His standards are the only valid standards. He is the measurement of all things because He is the cornerstone. By the same token, His Body, the church, becomes the standard for everything that takes place on the earth. The church is the standard-bearer even for the non-Christian world (1 Corinthians 14:24-25). When non-Christians look at our lives, our families and how we manage our resources and so forth, they must say: “Let’s go up to Zion & there learn the ways of God” (Isaiah 2:3).

3. To be the voice of God in the earth

The church is the conscience of society. We have the prerogative of speaking up and throwing light on every thing happening around us. The church cannot shrink back, barricade itself off and refuse to be a voice in society. We must hear what the Lord is saying and go and tell the masses, including the non-Christians. When society is being shaken and there’s turbulence in the courts of the Pharaoh’s, that’s the time for the church to arise and declare, “Thus says the Lord.” The church must be able to speak into people’s lives at any time and in any place. The church is all about being God’s voice in the earth.

4. To extend and expand God’s Kingdom into every domain of society

The church is called to invade every domain and penetrate every strata of society. Daniel 2:34-35 and 44 speaks about the stone which was cut out by the hand of God. This stone struck the statue and became a great mountain that filled the whole earth. 1 Peter 2:6 tells us that the stone is laid in Zion, the church. The stone proceeds out of the church. Thus, the church is called to crush every other kingdom and fill the whole earth with His Kingdom. Kingdom expansion cannot be limited to the four walls of our local churches. It must go beyond and spill out into society. Our members must be encouraged to enter into every strata of society and become the agents of change. Fathers of spiritual houses must train their sons to take over in whichever domain or sector God has positioned them, whether in education, business, politics and so forth.

5. To manifest the manifold wisdom of God against principalities and powers

This is confirmed in Ephesians 3:10 “to the intent that now the manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the church to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places”. The wisdom of God that proceeds from the church has the power to override and shut down the schemes and fiery darts of the enemy (Ephesians 6:11, 16). Our members must be trained to win their battles in the spirit world and not in the natural. In the natural world the enemy may have power over them. But in the spirit, they have power far above all principalities and powers. Therefore, our members must be trained to take their problems into the spirit world and deal with them there. This approach provides permanent answers and will eliminate the need for draining counselling sessions.

6. To become the dwelling place of God

1 Timothy 3:15 reveals that the church is the house or household of God. The church is God’s dwelling. God chooses to dwell with His people. The church is not built for our gatherings, programmes and services; it is for God. Therefore, whenever we gather, God must descend. He must manifests among us and move freely in our midst. God must descend from the heavens and dwell among us. The God-factor is an essential part of the church. The church is God’s dwelling place. “Dwelling” means to make a place home and to live and express oneself freely and with no restrictions. We cannot put God under house arrest in His own house! Ask yourself, is God able to manifest in any form He wants in your local church? Can He express Himself freely there? If He can then you are building the church accurately.

7. To break dividing walls between peoples, tribes and nations

The church is not a melting pot of cultures. The church is where every culture is shattered, and only Kingdom culture prevails. The church is where we break everything that is outside heavenly culture. The church cannot be dominated by one single culture because this divides the church. There is no Indian, Afrikaner or African church. Ephesians 2:14 says “For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation.” The church must understand that every dividing wall is broken. Only the culture of the Kingdom remains. Not even the prevailing culture of our cities or environments can be dominant in the church. Kingdom culture is the dominant culture and we must work towards that culture alone.

8. To fulfill the pledge of the Father to the Son

Acts 2:34-35 reveals the Father’s pledge to the Son. The Father promised to make all the Son’s enemies a footstool for His feet (“Sit at my right hand…until I make your enemies your footstool”). How has God been doing this in every generation in the past two thousand years? God has been doing this through the church! Psalm 110:2 tells us “The LORD will send the rod of Your strength out of Zion. Rule in the midst of Your enemies!”. God is using us His church to fulfill this pledge to bring every enemy in total subjection under Christ. The purpose of the church then is to complete & finish Christ’s final battles with His enemies (. i.e. sin, sickness, satan). The church will also deal with and destroy the final enemy of Christ: death!

9. To express the covenant relationship between God and man

Abraham walked in a such a unique level of covenant with God that God chose to work with him as a “friend of God” (James 2:23; 2 Chronicles 20:7; Isaiah 41:8). The church belongs to Christ and as such it is Abraham’s seed and an heir of the same covenant (Galatians 3:29). Just as Abraham was God’s friend and ally, the church must manifest this same dimension of covenant privilege with the Father. When we walk in covenant with God, He moves on our behalf. He attests to our covenant with Him with signs, wonders and miracles. The church is the covenanted beneficiary of God’s extraordinary protection, provision and progress.

10. To sum up all things in Christ, both in heaven and on earth

Ephesians 1:10 says that “in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth – in Him.” God’s ultimate plan is to gather all things in heaven and earth together in Christ, and God will use His church to do this. The church has to pull everything together and align it to Christ. The church has to take hold of the powers of the air and change the state of the city and nation. To accomplish this task, the church must itself align to the Head of the church. He will release accurate apostolic blueprints upon which the church can be built strong. The declines in our environments cannot change until the church is built accurately and arises to a position of power. God’s purpose for His church is that she would cause entire cities and nations to be changed and aligned to the measure of Christ.

Concluding remarks

Whatever God wants to do in your city and nation, He is going to do it through His Church. This is the reason why the Church needs to be built accurately and aligned to God’s original purposes for it. When such a Church is built God will shift the dynamics of the entire city around it. Do you want to see the transformation of your city? Do you want to lead your city into the destiny God has for it? Then rebuild God’s church on her original purposes.