Christopher was the fourth of the eleven children of John III and his wife, Sabina Catherine.
Since his elder brother Edzard had died young, he was heir apparent of Rietberg from the day he was born.
Shortly before his father's death, Christopher promised to build a Franciscan monastery in Rietberg.
On 10 November 1626, he married Albertine Maria Marquise de St. Martin; this marriage remained childless.
In 1645, his brother, Francis Ferdinand, began a court case before the Reichskammergericht to reverse some donations Christopher had made to his wife.