Here is the objection one atheist made to the sufferings of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ:
No one disputes that being crucified would be terrible; instead, what's questioned is whether crucifixion would be terrible enough for the purpose which Christians claim Jesus' crucifixion had: paying for the sins of all humanity. . . If Jesus' suffering really was sufficient to balance out the sins of all humanity, none of us individually could have owed very much. If we humans split up equally all the suffering of Jesus (which means most of us would shoulder more of the debt than we should, since most of us aren't mass murderers), what would that really amount to? A paper cut? I'd pay that. I don't need anyone to take on that debt for me. Saying that without Jesus I deserve to spend eternity in hell suffering eternal torment when in fact my actual debt is a paper cut is like forcing me into permanent slavery for a debt of a fraction of a penny -- a tactic that sounds suspiciously like the policies of some credit card companies. Hmmm... maybe Christianity is where they got the idea for their business model?
http://atheism.about.com/b/2010/05/10/did-jesus-really-suffer-enough.htm
If I was to be dragged outside, beaten, flogged, and then crucified, there would be absolutely no price paid for my sins in that. It would amount to nothing. This is because I am already a sinner and the wages of sin is death (Rom. 6:23). Death is what I rightly deserve; it is what I have earned. Therefore my own suffering and death does not pay for anything. But Christ’s suffering and death, on the other hand, is infinitely valuable because He is God and He is perfectly sinless.
We can do nothing to pay for our sins. Not only does our own death not pay for our sins but even eternity in hell does not either. If torment in hell could pay this price then there would come a point, let’s say after a million years, that we would be released to spend the rest of eternity in heaven. But the fact that hell is eternal indicates that it is the punishment for our sins, not the satisfaction of any debt owed. Also, the very fact that Christ came to die for our sins reveals the eternality of hell because if each of us could pay for our own sins by spending a certain amount of time in hell then we could save ourselves in this manner without needing the Savior. We could each just “do our time” and then be free. In that case there would be no gospel message to preach and we would all be better off living shorter lives so that we would have fewer sins to pay for and therefore sentenced to less time. Christ’s sacrifice for our sins was absolutely necessary.
The flaw in this atheist’s reasoning is that he greatly undervalues the immense worth of Christ’s suffering and death. He equates the value with that of any other man. But though Christ is 100% human He is also 100% God and therefore far more valuable than all of humanity combined. It is because of Christ’s infinite worth that His precious shed blood could have paid for an untold number of times more than all of humanity.
The entire human race could never, as the atheist ridiculed, “split up equally all the suffering of Jesus.” And even if we could split it up then it would amount to far more than just a paper cut but eternity in hell for each; exactly what has already been ordained. Just ask yourself how much you suppose God Himself is worth. There is absolutely no way for us to even begin to comprehend this. He is obviously worth more than the combined total of all humans who have ever lived, all life that has ever existed on earth, and the entire universe itself because He is its Creator. Therefore if His worth is infinitely more than all of humanity then certainly His own death was more than sufficient to redeem them all.
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