One of the laws of the world is that love must be proved.
Love is nothing without action,
And a sacrificial heart is invisible without sacrifice.
Words are sweet to hear, but do little for belief
Just as light does not aid sight without reflective surfaces,
Love lies limp if no circumstance comes where it must work and show itself,
We wonder at the cross, but it was necessary.
With the laws that God has established, I believe that it may have been impossible for him to love us and not die for us. Not dying would have been incompatible with his love, and the laws of love required death. Dying shows us the extent of his love. What would be the point of him loving us so much he would die for us, if he never chose to take that step?   Yes, there are many people who would die for their loved ones and never do, but they show the extent of their love in other sacrificial ways.  The cross was the only sacrifice that God could make, without it he could make no others.