The first lie was that they were incomplete and needed something to be made complete. They wanted to be wise. However, instead of seeking wisdom from God, the source of all wisdom, they thought that they could acquire it on their own by eating the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. They incorrectly thought that they were incomplete and used their own effort and wisdom to correct what they erroneously thought was a problem.
The second lie caused them to suspect God's motives and to lust to be like God. The serpent told Eve that eating the fruit would make her like God, knowing good and evil. But the Bible tells us that God made man in His image. They were already like God. God is good and all He made "was very good." All they knew was good. So all they got from their sin was knowledge of evil.
There was and is no way to fully cleanse ourselves from sin, other than the blood of Jesus, the only man who never sinned. As the book of Hebrews tells us, the blood of bulls and goats can never take away sin.
Sin separates us from God, resulting in more sin. Our minds and hearts have been darkened by lies and deception. Our hearts have been alienated from God. Having darkened and distorted minds and hearts, we continue to fall for the same old lies. We continue to work to "fix" ourselves, continuing to make matters worse through our misguided self-effort. We have become blinded and controlled by sin. We are slaves to sin.
