Purpose of Reincarnation

Contrary to popular thought, reincarnation was very much a belief of original Christianity–first having been an orthodox Jewish belief. Why Is There Reincarnation?
But what is the purpose of reincarnation? The purpose of reincarnation is for us to grow and evolve spiritually until we return to the Godhead from whence we originally came. Each life is the result of the ones preceding it and is shaped accordingly–not in the sense of reward or punishment, but as precise mathematical reaction to our actions in those previous lives. We reap what we sowed in them through the exercise of our free wills. Though we may forget it, we are at all times masters of our destiny and not at all swept along blindly by karma–which is really our own creation.
Before a soul reincarnates it is made aware of the sum total of its previous lives–what debts remain to be paid, and what credits may be collected. It then chooses which of the vast array it will deal with in the next life and accordingly selects the parents, location, race, sex, religion, etc., that will allow it to accomplish all it has decided with maximum efficiency and benefit. We reach the end of the rebirth cycle on this earth plane when all our karmic debts have been paid and we have evolved to that state of perfection in Christ where we no longer need to return to earth.

Swami Nirmalananda Giri