In order for Jesus Christ to qualify as the atonement for the sins of the redeemed, he must be personally perfect-that is, holy, having lived a sinless life. In order to be perfect, Christ must be more than a mere man-he must be divine. God's chosen mediator, Jesus Christ, is himself fully God (John 1:1, 18) and thus uniquely qualified to complete the work of redemption.
However, because man sinned, man must bear the penalty of sin, so in addition to being fully God, the mediator must also be fully man in order to bear the sin of man as their representative. Also, the mediator must be a man since the mediating act of atoning for sin requires a sacrificial death (Lev. 17:11; Heb. 9:22), and it is impossible for God to die.
Jerry Bridges and Bob Bevington, The Great Exchange
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