Two types of Death

There are two types of death spoken of in the scriptures and they are both significant to the atonement. Spritual death is one type and Physical death is the other. Both are said to enter the world with the fall of Adam and Eve and both are overcome by Christ.

Atonement: Justice is at fault, not God

The atonement was a necessary part of God's plan to fulfill the demands of justice. When we fail to comply with one of the commandments it would be just to receive a punishment for the transgression. But we also expect God to be merciful and forgive our sins. God is said to be perfect(Matt 5:48) and as such we should expect him to be perfectly just and perfectly merciful. To remain as such poses a problem when we add consequences into the equation.