What makes heaven heaven, and what will be absent there?
Heaven is heaven because God Himself dwells with His people, wipes away all tears, and puts away the curse. Absent there are death, sorrow, crying, pain, and all former things; everything is made new, untouched by sin. God will be personally present with each believer, not distant or known only by faith.
Les teaches that heaven is heaven because God Himself will dwell with men, not as someone far off whom we take only by faith, but in the very present. Eternity is in another dimension we cannot fully comprehend; billions will inhabit it, yet each believer will know God as personally as they know their own parent. God will wipe away all tears, and there will be no more death, sorrow, crying, or pain, because the former things have passed away. Les ties this to the earth's curse, which will be put away. He that sat upon the throne makes all things new, even the heavens, so nothing remains tainted by sin, whether satanic or human. These words are true and faithful, and Christ, the Alpha and Omega, is the beginning and the end.
And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.