Why did God set the price so high?

I've heard all kinds of theories on why Jesus died for us.  Because He is so holy that only the holiest of sacrifices would be acceptable.  Because perfect blood is the only acceptable sacrifice for our sins.  I've even heard a pastor remark that the only thing greater than God's love is His justice.  A remark that I have come to vehemently disagree with.

But the fact remains that God is under no one's authority.  He answers to no one.  There is no force in the universe that sets rules for Him to follow.  So the fact that a perfect sacrifice was required to pay for our sins, was completely HIS doing and HIS decision.

I have always wondered, then WHY did He create a demand that only HE could fill?  And the only conclusion I can ever come up with is to show us how much He loves us.  And that, for me, changes everything.  He's holding no grudges toward me or you.  He set the rules, he took the punishment and he planned it that way.  We are the object of his love.  And when I think about what He put Himself through, so that I could GET how much He loves me, well, it colors my life in a completely different palette.

He didn't HAVE to set the price so high.   At the cost of Himself, humiliation, pain and intense suffering. He could have just given us a set of rules to follow or hoops to jump through.   But the fact that He DID set a cost and then pay it, tells me that He wants me to KNOW beyond a doubt, that I am more than His creation.  I'm His truly beloved child.   I can only love Him because He loved me first.  And weren't we created to love and be loved?