The Eastern Orthodox Church teaches the doctrine of “theosis”. Not that we become “gods” but that we can, by living and growing in righteousness and holiness, become as He is, i.e., of one essence or substance with Him.

I agree with you about us becoming “gods”. That seems more than presumptuous. It implies an independence from our Father that I don’t believe the Scriptures teach. However, the Scriptures clearly teach that, in the Gospels, Yeshua is the only begotten Son of God, but in the Epistles Paul describes Him as “the firstborn among many brethren.” Furthermore, I John 4:17 says “as He is, so are we in this world.”
First, we must understand that the term “sons” has nothing to do with physical gender any more than being the Bride of Christ does. All mankind stands before Him on equal footing. In ancient times, actually up to the 18th century only sons could inherit; only sons could be heirs. For “in Christ there is neither male nor female.”

In Romans 8, Paul says we are sons of God and therefore “heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ.” Modern translations say “co-heirs” but a co-heir is not the same as a joint-heir. A co-heir only receives an equal portion of the inheritance along with all the other co-heirs, if there are 10 co-heirs, each one receives 1/10 of the estate. However, every joint-heir receives the whole inheritance in its entirety without division. Everything that belongs to Christ is mine without reservation. So we are the sons of God as heirs of God. Also, just as my wife and I have a joint checking account, so, as the Bride of Christ, I have title to His inheritance in full.

The inheritance is neither automatic nor instantaneous, but it comes as we grow and mature into “the fullness of Him who is all in all.” There is no independence here, but we become one with Him through submission to Him and walking humbly before Him, which is the reason behind the analogy of being the Bride, “the two shall become one flesh.”