The Greek word for "hell" in the above text is "Gehenna," one of three Greek words for hell, Hades and Tartarus being the other two. Also, though some translations give "child" of Hell, others correctly give "son" (Grk. huion) of Hell. With that as a preface, I want to talk about those who are the sons or children of Heaven against those who are the sons or children of Hell. In a recent post I showed how some people are children or sons of darkness while others are children or sons light, or children of the day versus children of the night. I showed that the genitives are adjectives (i.e. "day children", "night children" etc.) were to be understood in a moral, ethical, or spiritual sense, dealing with people being either good or evil, wicked or righteous, lawless or law abiding, etc.
So too are the descriptive terms "children of Heaven" or "children of Hell." Or, we might speak as do the scriptures of "Zion's children," or "children of God," as opposed to "children of the Devil," or "children of this age" (Luke 16: 8) versus "children of the age to come." (Luke 20: 34-36) We also read of "cursed children" (II Peter 2: 14) as opposed to "blessed children" (Matt. 5: 9), "children of wrath" (Eph. 2: 3), "children of the kingdom" (Matt. 8: 12), "children of disobedience" (Eph. 2: 2), etc.
A "child of Hell" is even more descriptive of the moral and spiritual condition of depraved men and women who are in a morally unregenerate state. "Gehenna" was the name for the trash dump where people of a town or city took their garbage and dead animal carcasses. It was always burning and produced an awful odor as one can imagine. It was a fitting picture of the place of torment for wicked impenitent men and women in the afterlife. However, it is not the same as Hades, for Hades is the place where the bodyless soul or spirit of the wicked now go and remain until the day of judgment, and being temporary it is more comparable to a jail. Gehenna on the other hand is the permanent place for those same wicked men, and is therefore more like a prison, and is a place where the wicked will exist in both body and soul (or spirit). As prisons generally hold the most "hardened" criminals, so too are the children of the prison of Gehenna the most ungodly.
So, "sons of Gehenna" denotes sons of immorality, sons of corruption, sons of moral garbage. Hell, whether Hades, Gehenna, or Tartarus, is not only a literal place but is also a symbol of everything that is evil and depraved. To be a "son of Hell" is therefore to be most vile, most devilish and diabolical, most wicked, most destructive, etc.
A person therefore who is "twice as much a son of Hell" is doubly wicked in every way. This makes me think of the time when the Lord Jesus exorcised a demon out of a man. Jesus then said this of that demon:
"Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there" (Matt. 12: 45 nkjv)
Some are two fold more the sons of Hell than others, more wicked than others.
Heaven's Children
"But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all." (Gal. 4: 26 kjv)
Jesus spoke of those who were "children of the kingdom" of God and Heaven. (Matt 8: 12) So, just as there are children or sons of Gehenna Hell, so too are there children or sons of Heaven. The apostle Paul said: "For our citizenship is in heaven" (Phil. 3: 20 kjv). Citizens of Heaven! Heaven is the home of every child of God who is born from above, and who seeks those things which are above. (John 3: 3; Col. 3: 1)
Just as being a child or son of Hell denotes those who are "double dyed" wicked and immoral persons, or villains, so being a child or son of Heaven denotes being a godly, moral, righteous, obedient, law abiding, person.
All those who are children of the Father in heaven (Matt. 5: 45), born of God, will behave as children of Heaven. So the apostle John testified, saying -- "And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure." (I John 3: 3 nkjv) Yes, they sin, for "there is not a just man upon earth that does good and sins not." (Eccl. 7: 20) But, a heaven born child is regularly purifying himself, is becoming more and more godly in his or her life.
Godliness is a chief characteristic of God's heaven born children, just as ungodliness is characteristic of the children of Hell. Jude describes the latter this way: "...all who are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have committed in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.” (Jude 1: 15 nkjv) It is as if Jude could not use that word "ungodly" enough! He uses that word as a noun, adjective, and adverb. This is a description of Hell's sons and daughters.
Heaven's children however are godly. Said the Psalmist: "But know that the LORD has set apart for Himself him who is godly" (Psa. 4: 3 nkjv) They are a "godly seed" (Mal. 2: 15).
Every child of Heaven was once a child of Hell. It is your choice to decide which you want to be. To become a child of Heaven, you "must be born again" as Jesus said. So, how do you become a child of God, born of God? Wrote Paul: "For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus." (Gal. 3: 26 nkjv) The apostle John wrote:
"But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." (John 1: 12-13 nkjv)
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