Questions for discussion (from Good Word Online):

Leading Question: Why is it important that God himself came to earth to pay the price for our sins?

Seeing Jesus as the incarnate God is of crucial importance for both the major views of the atonement.  For those who find the subjective atonement (John) meaningful, knowing that Jesus was God in the flesh closes the gap between a holy God and sinful humanity. Knowing that God himself came to earth to live and die for human beings means that there is no barrier on God’s side that would prevent him from welcoming his children home. God is not reluctant to save, but took on human flesh and came to earth, a powerful revelation of his love for his children.

For those who find the objective atonement (Paul) meaningful, knowing that Jesus was God means that God himself provided the sacrifice that satisfied the demands of the law, or even satisfied the “wrath” of God. Whatever one believes was “satisfied” by the death of Jesus it was God himself who provided the sacrifice. That protects against the view that God was “demanding” a pound of flesh as a pagan deity might demand it. No, orthodox Christian theology proclaims that it was God who provided the sacrifice; it was God who became the sacrifice.