Christ Life Church came out of The Sword of the Spirit Ministries, an interdenominational outreach Ministry, the seed of which was planted in December 1975, which became an organized Ministry in 1980, and published the first edition of its magazine, The Sword of the Spirit, in May of the same year. The founder of the Ministry is Francis Wale Oke, as specifically led by God. The Ministry was formally commissioned on the 3rd of September 1983, the same year that its nation-wide soul-winning crusades that have held in every major city of Nigeria, and other African nations, were launched.

The Ministry held her first annual Holy Ghost Convention in September 1983 at the main Campus of the University of Ilorin, drawing participants from virtually every state of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

In 1984, the Lord gave a word to His servant Francis Wale Oke, founder and President of The Sword of the Spirit Ministries, about planting a church in Ibadan, from II Chronicles 23:36

Early February 1989, the Holy Spirit indicated that the time for the word to be fulfilled had come. On Sunday, the 12th day of February 1989, Christ Life Church was born out of an existing fellowship set up to provide prayer backup for the outreaches of The Sword of the Spirit Ministries, at No. 46 Old Ife Road, Loyola, Ibadan, Nigeria.

Within its first year, the church grew to over one thousand (1,000) membership and the need to have its own property became apparent.

The growth of the church also necessitated the ordination of the first set of Pastors on December 31st 1989, conducted by Francis Wale Oke.

By 1990, a landed property was purchased for the church, christened “The Garden of Victory.” The church moved into the Garden immediately after the annual Holy Ghost Convention of 1991.

By 1993, a city-wide church planting started through what was tagged “Operation Christ Life”, meant to spread the life of Christ, and network the entire metropolis of Ibadan with vibrant Christ Life Churches.