“What if this is as good as it gets?” This rhetorical question was asked by Jack Nicholson’s character, Marvin, in the 1997 movie “As Good as it Gets.” He asked this rhetorical question as he walked out of his psychiatrist’s office where a roomful of other confused and hurting people awaited to find answers, undoubtedly, to similar questions. And today, I believe many of us live our lives often wondering this similar thought, “Is this as good as life gets?'” The movie ultimately concludes providing no answers to his question. However, its silence does convey an answer, and I believe, one that Christmas can help remedy.
As we prepare for the Christmas, there are essentially 2 ways most people in our culture will celebrate. One, that there is no spiritual (or religious) meaning of the holiday, and they celebrate and hope in this fleeting life on this planet. The other sees the holiday centered on the birth of God’s Son, Jesus Christ, into our lives on this planet, which they celebrate and hope in eternal life given freely through Him. While people in both groups often bring more kindness and goodness into their realm during the season, can people in either camp provide an answer to the movie’s question?
As our culture leans further away from the existence of God, there is less belief in our life beyond the “here and now”. With this understanding of life, people must put all their happiness and hope into their current life and situations. So when bad times come, they may hope things get better, but they have no guarantees, making an answer to the question likely very depressing. However, even while coasting on a happy time in life, the classic adage of “what goes up must come down” is hanging over their heads, bringing another depressing answer to the question. This guides a culture without God either to only ignore to answer the question altogether, or to answer it with complete uncertainty.
However, for a Christian, there is a certainty which Christmas brings to answer Marvin’s question. Even in good times, and especially in tough times. Jesus’ miraculous birth, life, death, and ultimately his resurrection, points to a life that far exceeds this temporal one of our natural world. He brings with Him the reality that death is not final, and that there is a life possible without pain, brokenness, or death (Rev 21:4). He will one day return and make all things new (Rev 21:5), where the pain of yesterday and today will no longer be remembered (Isa 65:17). Christmas, the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ, signifies our deepest yearning of a better and complete life, where love, joy and peace rule.
No, Marvin, this life is not as good as it gets. And it’s only because of Jesus Christ that one day it will be. Merry Christmas!
“I have come that you might have life – life in all its fullness”, John 10:10.
