discipline versus punishment

Moses went up the mountain to receive the ten commandments written by God on two stone tablets, and God gave Moses a bunch of instructions about the tabernacle, worship protocols, etc.  Meanwhile, back at the ranch, the Israelites persuaded Aaron to make a golden calf.  And it seems to me that God punished the Israelites for their sin:

Ex. 32:33 The Lord replied to Moses, "Whoever has sinned against me I will blot out of my book. 34 Now go, lead the people to the place I spoke of, and my angel will go before you. However, when the time comes for me to punish, I will punish them for their sin." 35 And the Lord struck the people with a plague because of what they did with the calf Aaron had made.

I can see how some Christians might assume that God would treat Christians like He treated the Israelites, especially since the Apostle Paul explains that they were an example for us of what NOT to do (1 Cor. 10).

However, there is a fundamental difference between God's interaction with the Israelites and His interaction with us: God punished the Israelites, but He disciplines us. That is, Jesus endured the full wrath and punishment of God for all of our sin (Isaiah 53), so that the old covenant is obsolete by Christ's once-and-for-all sacrifice (Heb 8-10).  Thus, now we enjoy a relationship with God as His children, and he disciplines those He loves:

Prov. 3:12 because the Lord disciplines those he loves,
    as a father the son he delights in.

God does not discipline us in anger, but in delight.  He corrects us because He loves us (Heb. 12).

This past Tuesday evening, we were singing a song about Jesus sharing His cup with us, and I was impressed with the truth that Jesus drank the cup of wrath to the dregs so that we could enjoy the banquet cup of blessing and celebration!

Heavenly Father, thank you so much for your kindness towards us.  Lord Jesus, thank you for bearing ALL of the wrath, so that there is none left for us!  Thank you so much!  Holy Spirit, thank you for your discipline, even though it doesn't feel good, I believe that you discipline me because you delight in me.  I believe that you delight in me.  I bless your name because you are good!  I love you, and I pray in the name of Jesus.