The Atonement was not simply a nice thing, a sweet offering of a gentle and kind man; it was and is absolutely necessary. Though Christ’s atonement was a voluntary offering, though he suffered and laid down his life of his own free will, what he did needed to be done; all eternity hung in the balance until it was an accomplished reality.
Had there been no atonement, no amount of goodness, no amount of caring and concern, no amount of human strength could have made up the difference. We are forever indebted to him who bought us with his blood.