In Christ’s kenosis (the emptying of Himself in κένωσις, kénōsis as Philippians 2:7 says) God become like us that we in Theosis might now become like Him. There is no Theosis without kenosis. In His kenosis, by means of the Incarnation, Christ did not cease being divine but clothed Himself in humanity, so that now, by partaking of Him, we might be deified. “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich” (2 Cor. 8:9). This gives rise to chivalry. Christ’s kenosis is a re-creation event whereby divinity and humanity come into union without mixture or confusion in Him, resulting in the restoration of the image of God in mankind so that in turn, by the power of the Holy Spirit, we may grow to maturity in the likeness of God. Therefore, we must follow Christ in the pathway of kenosis if we are to experience Theosis. Baptism is vital to this. “For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his” (Rom. 6:5). In Baptism, what we see Christ doing to Adam in the Icon of the Resurrection, namely, raising him from the dead, happens to us. In Baptism we are first united with Christ in a death like His that we may be united with Him in a resurrection like His. In the Eucharist we renew this experience of being united in His death and resurrection. And in our Eucharistic lifestyle we daily walk out His death and resurrection in our lives. Thus a Basileian lifestyle is one of constant kenosis that leads to Theosis.
Also see Chivalry, and Theosis.