In many pagan religions, a human sacrifice was required in order for the servant to make peace with his god.

In Christianity, God sacrificed Himself* in order to make peace with His servants.

That’s it; that’s the difference.

~ Matthew

*He sacrificed Jesus, the God|Man, whose crucifixion killed His physical body, but I didn’t want to type all that and ruin the simple symmetry of the point. I just knew someone would come at me with a “well actually…” if I didn’t clarify: God the Father didn’t die on the cross; God the human-Son died.
The point stands.