Your Hope Is Secure When Your Treasure Is in Heaven

The Problem with New Year's Resolutions

January 1st just passed. You know what that means. New year, new resolutions, new hopes. "This is going to be my year," we tell ourselves. "Things are going to get better." We make our lists. We set our goals for weight loss, learning a new language, traveling more, reading more. We convince ourselves that this time it's going to be different, that we have hope!

But deep down, we're not so sure. Because we've been here before, haven't we? Same promises. Same hopes. And yet here we are again, wondering if anything really changes.

And if we're honest, when we look around at the world we're living in, it's hard to feel hopeful at all. Turn on the news for five minutes. Political division that gets worse every year. Economic uncertainty and rising costs. International conflicts and threats that never seem to end. Cultural chaos and moral confusion.

The overwhelming feeling is that things are falling apart. The world seems to be getting darker. And in that context, hope feels naive. Maybe we should just hunker down. Protect our families. Survive. Stop expecting things to get better.

And if we're really honest, that's what a lot of us Christians have been doing, right? We've been retreating. Creating our own Christian bubble. Isolating from the culture. Building walls instead of bridges. We've become increasingly cynical and pessimistic. "The world's going to hell," we say, "so why bother?"

But what if that response is exactly backwards? What if the Gospel calls us into the world, not away from it? What if Christians should be the most hopeful people on earth?

Hoping in the Wrong Things

Let's talk about where most of us have actually placed our hope. Because I think if we're honest, we've been hoping in the wrong things.

We hope the right candidate wins. We hope the economy stabilizes. We hope our kids turn out okay. We hope our health holds up. We hope our retirement is secure. Now listen, none of these things are bad to care about. You should care about your kids. You should be responsible with your finances.

The problem isn't caring about these things. The problem is when they become your treasure. When they become the foundation of your hope. Because they make a terrible foundation.

Why? Because they're all temporary. All fragile. All subject to change. All completely outside your control.

What happens when you treasure earthly things? You ride an emotional rollercoaster. Good election results? You're hopeful! Bad results? You're despairing! Stock market up? Optimistic! Stock market down? Anxious!

This is what happens when your treasure is in this world. Your hope rises and falls with circumstances. You become cynical when things don't go your way. You want to isolate and protect yourself. You lose optimism about the future. You become bitter, angry, and fearful.

Jesus talked about this in Matthew 6:19-20:

"Don't store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal. Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal."

Here's the brutal truth about earthly treasure. It will be destroyed. Political victories will be reversed. Economic stability will be disrupted. Health will fail. Everything you can see and touch will pass away.

And if earthly treasure determines our hope, and we know earthly treasure is guaranteed to fail, then hopelessness is inevitable. No wonder Christians are as anxious as everyone else. We've placed our treasure in the wrong place.

Living as Exiles

This is exactly the situation Peter addresses in his first letter. 1 Peter 1:1-2 begins:

"This letter is from Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ. I am writing to God's chosen people who are living as foreigners in the provinces of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia. God the Father knew you and chose you long ago, and his Spirit has made you holy."

Peter is writing to believers scattered across five Roman provinces. Their circumstances were genuinely terrible. This was written around 64-65 AD, when the Roman government started widespread persecution of Christianity. Christians were blamed for natural disasters and lost wars because they didn't worship Roman gods. They were suffering.

But Peter doesn't write to commiserate with their misery. Instead, he reminds them of their living hope.

Notice how Peter frames their identity. He calls them "God's chosen people" who are "living as foreigners." They weren't exiles because they lost. They were exiles because they were chosen. Their displacement wasn't God's abandonment. It was God's purpose.

You are "Not From Here." This world is not your home. You are a citizen of heaven first. Your primary identity is "chosen exile." You're a kingdom citizen living temporarily on foreign soil.

When you understand this, it changes how you view everything happening around you.

The Living Hope

Then Peter tells them why they have hope. 1 Peter 1:3-5:

"All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is by his great mercy that we have been born again, because God raised Jesus Christ from the dead. Now we live with great expectation, and we have a priceless inheritance, an inheritance that is kept in heaven for you, pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of change and decay."

Notice where he starts. "Praise be to God!" Not "Let me tell you how bad things are." He starts with praise. Because praise shifts your perspective from your circumstances to the character of God.

Then he describes what we've been born into: an inheritance. But not just any inheritance. Three characteristics. It can never perish. It cannot be corrupted. It cannot lose its value. Imperishable, undefiled, unfading.

And here's the critical part: This inheritance is kept in heaven for you. Not on earth where it can be stolen. Not in banks that can fail. Not in governments that can collapse. It is in heaven, in no place you can ruin it or lose it.

Joy in Suffering

Now you might be thinking, "That's easy to say when things are going well. But what about when you're actually suffering?" Peter addresses that in 1 Peter 1:6-7:

"So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you must endure many trials for a little while. These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold, though your faith is far more precious than mere gold."

Peter acknowledges real suffering. This isn't toxic positivity. He's saying you can have simultaneous grief and joy. You can be sad about your circumstances and hopeful about your future.

These trials aren't random or meaningless. They prove your faith is genuine. Like gold refined by fire, the impurities are burned away. But even refined gold will eventually perish. Genuine faith endures forever.

Privileged Beyond Measure

In 1 Peter 1:10-12, Peter gives one more reason for hope. The Old Testament prophets searched intently to understand what they were prophesying about the coming Messiah. They longed to see what you have.

Think about what we have that they didn't. We live on this side of the cross. This side of the resurrection. We have what they longed to see. Even angels long to look into these things.

You are privileged beyond measure even when it doesn't seem that way. The prophets searched for what you have. Angels long to understand what you experience. Yet you're tempted to despair?

Making It Practical

Your hope is secure when your treasure is in heaven. Not when your hope is in politics. Not in economics. Not in culture. But in an inheritance that can't perish, spoil, or fade.

Here's what I want to challenge you to do this week. Memorize 1 Peter 1:3-4:

"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you."

Each morning this week, before you check the news or scroll through social media, read these verses out loud. Remind yourself of your inheritance. Shift your perspective from earth to heaven.

Also, take a hope audit. What makes you anxious when it's threatened? What makes you despair when it doesn't go your way? These things reveal your treasures.

Be Different

The world is losing hope. You can see it everywhere. People are anxious, angry, fearful. And into that world, God is calling you to be different.

Be the people of living hope. Be joyful despite circumstances. Be confident despite trials. Not because you're naive. But because your treasure is in the right place.

You're not from here. You're a chosen exile. A kingdom citizen living temporarily in a foreign land. And you have an inheritance waiting for you that can't be touched by anything happening in this world.

That changes everything.

Small Group Questions

ICE BREAKER QUESTIONS

1. What New Year's resolution have you made (this year or in the past) that you were most excited about but least successful at keeping? What made it hard to follow through?

2. When you scroll through the news or social media, what topic or headline instantly affects your mood—either positively or negatively? Why do you think that particular thing has such power over your emotions?

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1. The sermon began by acknowledging that when we look at the world—political division, economic uncertainty, cultural chaos—it's hard to feel hopeful. Be honest: How hopeful do you feel about the direction of our country, culture, or world right now? What specific things make you feel hopeless or anxious?

2. The sermon stated: "We've been hoping in the wrong things. We hope the right candidate wins. We hope the economy stabilizes. We hope our kids turn out okay." While these aren't bad things to care about, they become problematic when they're our treasure. How do we distinguish between caring appropriately about something and making it the foundation of our hope?

3. Jesus said in Matthew 6:19-20 not to store up treasures on earth where they can be destroyed, but in heaven where they're secure. The sermon challenged us to take a "hope audit"—what makes you anxious when threatened? What controls your emotional state? Based on those indicators, where have you actually placed your treasure?

4. Peter calls his readers "chosen exiles" or "foreigners" (1 Peter 1:1). They weren't physically displaced, but their new life in Christ made them seem like foreigners in their own communities. What does it mean practically to live as an exile in your workplace, neighborhood, or culture? How should this identity change the way you engage with the world?

5. The sermon emphasized that Peter wrote "Praise be to God!" (1 Peter 1:3) before addressing their terrible circumstances. Why is it significant that he starts with praise rather than acknowledging their suffering? How does starting with praise shift our perspective from circumstances to God's character?

6. Peter describes our inheritance as "imperishable, undefiled, and unfading—kept in heaven for you" (1 Peter 1:4). Compare this to earthly inheritances or treasures that can be lost, stolen, corrupted, or destroyed. How does knowing your real inheritance is secure in heaven change the way you view earthly losses or setbacks?

7. The sermon asked provocatively: "Do you feel more hopeful than you did five years ago?" Peter says our hope should grow with spiritual maturity. If you're less hopeful now than before, what does that reveal about where you've been placing your treasure? How can we cultivate growing hope even when circumstances get worse?

8. Peter acknowledges real suffering but says we can have simultaneous grief and joy (1 Peter 1:6-7). How is this different from toxic positivity that denies pain? Can you share a time when you experienced both grief over circumstances and joy in your faith at the same time?

9. The sermon pointed out that Old Testament prophets longed to understand what we now have, and even angels are fascinated by the gospel (1 Peter 1:10-12). Yet we're tempted to despair and isolate. What does it say about us that we take for granted what prophets searched for and angels long to understand? How should this perspective combat cynicism?

10. The practical challenge was to memorize 1 Peter 1:3-4 and read it every morning before checking news or social media, redirecting focus from earth to heaven. What would change about your day, your attitude, or your engagement with the world if you started every morning remembering your secure, heavenly inheritance rather than immediately consuming news about earthly problems?