The
purpose of the Church is threefold, upward: inward, and outward:
(1) Upward. The Church exists to
bring honor, praise, and glory to God, to worship Him both individually and
corporately here on earth. Saucy writes, “The
church’s final goal in all of its responsibilities…is the ascription of glory
to the One who has created it through redemption in Christ. The predestination
of believers in the church to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ and the
obtaining of an inheritance in Him all redounds ‘to the praise of the glory of
His grace’ (Eph. 1:5-6, 11-14). So amazing is the display of God’s attributes
in creating the church and bestowing upon it all blessings in Christ Jesus that
the apostle exults in a doxology of praise: ‘to
Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever
and ever. Amen’ (Eph. 3:21 ).[1]
(2) Inward. The Church exists so
that the Body of Christ might be edified and equipped for service. Through this
edification the Spirit is able to bring us to maturity and can continually
conform us more and more to the image of Christ (cf. Eph. 4:13 ). Saucy states, “The edification of the church, while related to outward growth by the
addition of new members, is concerned primarily with the building and
developing of the community itself in the life of faith (Eph. 4:13-16; Jude 20;
1 Cor. 14:26)[2] If
Christians are going to grow to maturity, there are three things which we need
to be actively taking part of and doing, we must be submitting on a regularly
basis to the teaching of the Word of God and in time become teachers of the
Word ourselves, fellowship, and worship.
(3) Outward. In Matthew 28:18-20
we find Christ Himself telling us why the Church exists, what our purpose is in
relation to the world, it is known as The Great Commission, an exhortation
repeated just before Christ’s ascension (Acts 1:8; cf. Luke 24:46-48). Chafer
states, “The present divine purpose of
this age is not the conversion of the world, but rather the calling out from
the world those who will believe in Christ to form the body of Christ which is
the church…in the present age, never is the individual believer (much less the
church) appointed of God to a world-improvement program; but the believer is
called to be a witness in all the world to Christ and His saving grace, and
through this ministry of gospel preaching the Spirit of God will accomplish the
supreme divine purpose in the age”[3]
(cf. Mark 16:15; 2 Cor. 5:19).
In addition to the three purposes
mentioned above, the Church also has a function toward the Kingdom program: (1)
to provoke Israel 11:11 -15),
(2) to show God’s grace and wisdom (Eph. 2:7; 3:6, 10), (3) to prepare the
Kingdom’s rulers.[4]
[1] Robert
L. Saucy, The Church in God’s Program (Chicago:
Moody, 1972), p. 97.
[2] Ibid.,
p. 95.
[3] Lewis
Sperry Chafer, Major Bible Themes, revised
by John F. Walvoord, (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1974), pp. 242-244.
[4] Saucy,
pp. 89-90.
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